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Kirsten Soriano (formerly, Kirsten Broberg) was born April 19, 1979. She is an American composer from White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Her music has been performed by the Kronos Quartet string quartet, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra MusicNOW Ensemble, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Crossing choral ensemble, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente and the Jack Quartet string quartet. In 2013, she was appointed assistant professor at the University of North Texas and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2020. She has served as director of undergraduate studies in the college of music at the University of North Texas since 2018. Soriano earned a doctorate in music composition in 2009 from Northwestern University in Chicago as a student of Augusta Read Thomas, Jay Alan Yim and Jason Eckardt. At Northwestern she also worked with Kaija Saariaho, Tristan Murail, Oliver Knussen and John Adams. Soriano was the recipient of a Fromm Commissioning Grant from Harvard University in 2009. Her dissertation analyzes Resonant Strands and provides historical context by discussing cycles including Carceri d'Invenzione by Brian Ferneyhough, Les Espaces Acoustiques by Gérard Grisey and Opening of the Mouth by Richard Barrett. In 2013 she studied in Paris and southern France with Kaija Saariaho, Tristan Murail, and Philippe Hurel. In recent years she studied with nine-time Emmy-Award winning composer Bruce Broughton. Soriano's music focuses on timbre, and blends spectral, neoromantic, minimalist and complexity trends. Soriano has composed numerous cycles of extractable works including Resonant Strands for piano, bowed piano and string quartet; Natura for mixed winds, strings and percussion; the Waters of Time for soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin and cello; In Search of Imagery for Sinfonietta; and Canticles from the Ends of the Earth for choir and orchestra. Soriano is the founder of the contemporary music organization Ensemble Dal Niente in Chicago. While Soriano was the Executive Director of Ensemble Dal Niente the ensemble received a Kranichsteiner Stipendium Preise, during the 45th Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany. Her music has been released by multiple labels including Navona Records and Innova Records. She was the featured composer for the New Music Box "Spotlight Session" composer for the American Music Center in May 2009. Soriano won the 2016 Composer's Choice Award in Symphony Number One's third Call for Scores.

The music of award-winning composer Kirsten Soriano has been presented on public radio, public television and film festivals and has been performed by internationally renowned artists at world-class venues such as Carnegie Hall. Kirsten Soriano's compositions have been heard around the globe at events such as the World Harp Congress in Hong Kong, China; the Nuovi Spazi Festival at the American Academy in Rome, Italy; the Ensems Festival for Contemporary Music in Valencia, Spain; Sonic Fusion Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland; The Composer's Voice at Carnegie Hall in New York, New York; the International Contemporary Ensemble ICE Fest in New York, New York; the June in Buffalo Festival in Buffalo, New York; Charlotte New Music Festival in Charlotte, North Carolina; Sonic Impact at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Illinois; Electronic Music Midwest Conference in Chicago, Illinois; the Sound Field New and Experimental Music Festival in Chicago, Illinois and the Opera Cabal Multimedia Festival in Chicago, Illinois. Her works have been performed by internationally recognized ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music Now Ensemble, Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Crossing Contemporary Choir, International Contemporary Ensemble, Jack Quartet, Verdigris Choral Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, Volti Choral Ensemble, New Millennium Orchestra, New York New Music Ensemble, Crimson Duo, Calliope Duo, Sonic Inertia Dance and Performance Group and Third Coast Percussion. Among Soriano's honors are the Fromm Foundation Commissioning Grant from Harvard University, commissioning funds from New Music USA, three Encore Grants from the American Composers Forum, the Jerome Foundation Award from the American Composers Forum, the Composer Choice award from Symphony Number One and Best Documentary from the Thin Line Film Festival. She was one of seven composers selected for the American Composers Forum and Minnesota Orchestra's Composer Institute and she has been awarded two Creative and Scholarly Awards from the University of North Texas, two William T. Faricy Awards at Northwestern University and three Wyatt Fund grants from Northwestern University. She also received first place in the Accent '04 International Call for String Quartets at Cincinnati Conservatory and first place in the University of Minnesota Call for Orchestral Scores. Soriano was featured on the cover of the International Alliance for Women Music's magazine, Dallas Voyage Magazine published an article on her life and music and the American Music Center released the article and radio broadcast, "Kirsten Broberg in the Abstract." Her soundtrack for the film, 489 Days, was presented on KERA-PBS public television and Minnesota Public Radio presented choral and orchestral works in the interview entitled "Kirsten Broberg gets her Big Break." Her piano piece, "Constellations," recorded by Matthew McCright, was released by Innova Records in May 2009; her choir piece "Breathturn," recorded by the Crossing Contemporary Choir, was released by Parma/Navona records 2011. Her suite, "Color and Texture," recorded by TrioPolis, was released by Fleur de Son Classics in 2018 and "Rain Gardens" for solo piano will be released by the Composer's Voice, recorded by Matthew McCright, in 2020. Her Dream-Paths and Waters of Time cycles were recently recorded by Grammy-Award winning soprano Estelí Gomez. An accomplished educator, Soriano is a tenured Associate Professor of Music Composition in the College of Music at University of North Texas where she teaches private composition lessons, composition seminars, contemporary music since 1960, contemporary music since 2000 and contemporary vocal techniques, repertoire and text setting. In the past she has taught music composition, counterpoint, music theory, aural skills, form and analysis, Western music history, world music, popular music and song writing at Northwestern University, the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Saint Olaf College, Chicago College of Performing Arts, North Park University, University of Saint Thomas, Prairie State College and the Art Institutes International. She also teaches private piano and songwriting lessons in her home studio. As an effective leader and entrepreneur, Kirsten Soriano is the founding composer of the internationally-renowned group Ensemble Dal Niente and was the Executive Director through its formative years, during which time the ensemble won a Kranichsteiner Musikpreis at the Darmstadt International Festival for New Music. She is now the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the College of Music at the University of North Texas where she has led initiatives for student retention and implemented a strategic plan to revise and revive the core curriculum. At the University of North Texas, she has also served on the Executive Faculty Senate, the Faculty Senate, the University Curriculum Committee, the Faculty Advisory Committee, the Undergraduate Music Curriculum Committee, the Presser Award Committee, the Ricco Ethics Award Committee, on the Pi Kappa Lambda Scholarship Committee, as the Secretary for Pi Kappa Lambda and was an advisor to students entering the Music Entrepreneurship Contest. In the past, she was the President of the Northwestern University Graduate Music Organization, the Music Composition Chair for the Midwest Graduate Music Consortium, a Board member for New Music Chicago, a Steering Committee member for the Chicago Composers Forum, on the Planning Committee for the Northwestern University New Music Marathon and a Board member for New Music Chicago, during which time the Sonic Impact Festival of Contemporary Music at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago was produced. Kirsten Soriano holds a doctorate in music composition from Northwestern University in Chicago where she studied with Augusta Read Thomas, Jay Alan Yim and Jason Eckardt. She has taken lessons with ten-time Emmy-Award winning composer Bruce Broughton; studied music composition privately with Kaija Saariaho, Tristan Murail and Philippe Hurel in France; and studied composing for choreography with Claudia Howard Queen. She earned a Master of Arts in music composition from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Music degree in music theory and composition with a minor in creative writing from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.

"Her music has been described as haunting, stunning, and picturesque—even ineffable. It casts a spell on us that leaves time behind, taking us into a different kind of present, a different kind of now (Alison Young, Minnesota Public Radio)."

"Her music has been described as haunting, stunning, and picturesque—even ineffable. It casts a spell on us that leaves time behind, taking us into a different kind of present, a different kind of now (Alison Young, Minnesota Public Radio)." The music of composer Kirsten Broberg has been performed by internationally recognized ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra MusicNOW Ensemble, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Musicians, the Minnesota Orchestra, the International Contemporary Ensemble, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Jack Quartet, the New Millennium Orchestra, the Sonic Inertia Dance and Performance Group, Third Coast Percussion and the SUNY Stony Brook Chamber Players. A passionate entrepreneur for the arts, she is the founding composer of the internationally-renowned group, Ensemble Dal Niente, and served as the Executive Director for its formative years (2004-2010), during which time the ensemble won a Kranichsteiner Musikpreis at the Darmstadt Festival for New Music. Among her honors are receiving a Fromm Foundation Commissioning Grant from Harvard University (2009), being selected as one of seven composers chosen for the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute (2016), being awarded the Composer Choice winner of the Symphony Number One call for scores (2016) and receiving many grants and commissions from the American Composers Forum. She was featured on the American Music Center's New Music Box article, "Kirsten Broberg in the Abstract" and her music was broadcasted on their spotlight session (2009), her music was played and she was interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio (2013 and 2016) and she was on the cover of the International Alliance for Women in Music's magazine (2016). She holds a Doctorate in Music Composition from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois where she was a student of Augusta Read Thomas, Jay Alan Yim and Jason Eckardt (2009). She also studied music composition privately with Kaija Saariaho, Tristan Murail and Philippe Hurel in France in 2013. Kirsten Broberg is currently an Assistant Professorship in Music Composition in the College of Music at University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.

Kirsten Soriano (formerly Kirsten Broberg), born April 19, 1979, is an American composer from White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Her compositions have been performed by prestigious ensembles including the Kronos Quartet, Chicago Symphony Orchestra MusicNOW Ensemble, Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Crossing choral ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, and Jack Quartet. She became assistant professor at the University of North Texas in 2013 and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2020, serving as director of undergraduate studies in the college of music since 2018. Soriano earned her doctorate in music composition in 2009 from Northwestern University under composers Augusta Read Thomas, Jay Alan Yim, and Jason Eckardt. She studied with Kaija Saariaho, Tristan Murail, Oliver Knussen, and John Adams during her time there. She received a Fromm Commissioning Grant from Harvard University in 2009. Her dissertation analyzed "Resonant Strands" and contextualized her work with cycles by Brian Ferneyhough, Gérard Grisey, and Richard Barrett. In 2013, she studied in Paris and southern France with Saariaho, Murail, and Philippe Hurel, and later studied with nine-time Emmy Award-winning composer Bruce Broughton. Her music emphasizes "timbre, and blends spectral, neoromantic, minimalist and complexity trends." Notable compositions include "Resonant Strands," "Natura," "Waters of Time," "In Search of Imagery," and "Canticles from the Ends of the Earth." She founded Ensemble Dal Niente in Chicago, which received a Kranichsteiner Stipendium Preise during the 45th Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany. Her music appears on Navona Records and Innova Records. She won the 2016 Composer's Choice Award in Symphony Number One's third Call for Scores.

The music of award-winning composer Kirsten Soriano has been presented on public radio, public television and film festivals and has been performed by internationally renowned artists at world-class venues such as Carnegie Hall. Kirsten Soriano holds a doctorate in music composition from Northwestern University in Chicago where she studied with Augusta Read Thomas, Jay Alan Yim and Jason Eckardt. She has taken lessons with ten-time Emmy-Award winning composer Bruce Broughton; studied music composition privately with Kaija Saariaho, Tristan Murail and Philippe Hurel in France; and studied composing for choreography with Claudia Howard Queen. She earned a Master of Arts in music composition from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Music degree in music theory and composition with a minor in creative writing from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.