Curtis Hughes

Position
Associate Professor of Composition

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Curtis Hughes joined the Conservatory in 2008 and is an associate professor of composition.

Curtis's most recent endeavors have included new commissions for the New Gallery Concert Series, for Transient Canvas, and for Boston Musica Viva. He was commissioned by Guerilla Opera which resulted in RareBit, a surreal chamber opera, and a production that was rated the "moxt exhilarating premiere" of 2014 by the Boston Classical Review. This was Hughes's second collaboration with Guerilla Opera, who also premiered Say It Ain't So, Joe, his 2009 opera about the 2008 Vice Presidential Debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.
 
Hughes's music is characterized by its rhythmic restlessness, its harmonic adventurousness, and its often volatile mix of diverse stylistic elements and political subtexts. It has been described as "fiery" in the New York Times, "well crafted" in the Phoenix, and "colorfully scored" in the Boston Globe. His music has been performed across the U.S. and internationally, from Los Angeles to Berlin and from Vermont's Yellow Barn to Bulgaria's Here/Now New Music Festival. Recordings of his music for the Albany, GM, and Cauchemar labels are available at all major online music retailers.
 
Hughes was a student of composers Lee Hyla and Evan Ziporyn. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory, and the New England Conservatory, which honored him in 2010 with an Oustanding Alumni Award. He was a 2005 fellow at Tanglewood, and has served as composer-in-residence for Collage New Music and the Radius Ensemble.