Alexis Bacon

ABOUT

Alexis Bacon is a composer recognized nationally and internationally for both her acoustic and electroacoustic music. Her work draws inspiration from a diverse array of sound worlds, including vanishing American oral traditions, medieval Provençal poetry, Norwegian fiddle music, and Afro-Brazilian religious ceremonies.

Throughout her career, she has won awards including the IAWM Search for New Music Pauline Oliveros Prize, the Ossia International Composition Prize, the ASCAP/SEAMUS student composition commission, and most recently an honorable mention in the 2018 Hildegard Competition. Her work has been supported by awards and grants from the Indiana Arts Council, the Percussive Arts Society, the American Music Center, and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, and commissioned by ensembles and artists including National Sawdust, Burning River Baroque, Due East, the Bro-Fowler Duo, violinist Robert Simonds, and several commissioning consortiums comprising dozens of commissioners. In 2018 Alexis became the composer and Music Director for the interactive production “Shark: The Musical,” which uses technology as a tool to facilitate audience interaction, and was featured at the Detroit Science Gallery in 2019.

In recent years her works have been featured at festivals including SEAMUS, SPLICE Festival, the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, Electronic Music Midwest, ElectroAcoustic Barn Dance, the University of Tennessee Contemporary Music Festival, the College Music Society National Conference, the International Society of Double Reeds Conference, the American Single Reed Summit, the Florida State University Festival of New Music, the American Viola Society Festival, Music NOW, the Music by Women Festival, and many North American Saxophone Alliance conferences.

Alexis Bacon began her composition studies at Rice University, where she completed her Bachelor’s degree in both music composition and viola performance. She was subsequently awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study music composition in France with Betsy Jolas. Upon her return to the United States, she completed her graduate studies in music composition at the University of Michigan where her teachers included William Bolcom, Michael Daugherty, Evan Chambers, and Susan Botti.

She has taught at University of Michigan, West Texas A&M University, Indiana State University, and the University of Indianapolis, and is currently Associate Professor of Music Composition at Michigan State University. She spends her summers teaching electronic music at Interlochen Arts Camp. Skilled as both a violist and pianist, she remains active as a performer. More examples of her work can be found at www.alexisbacon.com.