2.2 - Quinn Mason
Praised as "One of the most sought after young composers in the country" (Texas Monthly) and “a composer who clearly understands the orchestra and knows how to take advantage of its many varied colors” (Tallahassee Democrat), composer and conductor Quinn Mason (b. 1996) has distinguished himself as an artist of national and international renown. He previously served a successful tenure as Artist in Residence of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra for the 2022-2023 season. He also served as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Classical Roots composer in residence in 2022 (the youngest composer appointed to that role) and as KMFA 89.5’s inaugural composer in residence.
His orchestral music has been commissioned and performed by over 170 professional, regional, community and youth orchestras in the US and Europe, including the San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, The Syracuse Orchestra, Amarillo Symphony, National Youth Orchestra of the United States (NYO-USA), New World Symphony, University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, New England Conservatory Philharmonia, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Experiential Orchestra, Mesquite Symphony Orchestra, Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, Wichita Symphony Orchestra, South Carolina Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, Symphony San Jose, South Bend Symphony Orchestra, the River Oaks, Reno, Mission and Lowell chamber orchestras, youth orchestras of Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, Central Kentucky, Vermont, Rhode Island, Memphis, East Texas, Omaha, Seattle and Dallas, Scotland's West of Scotland Schools Symphony Orchestra, Italy's Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, UK's Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra and numerous others.
As a conductor, Quinn has guest conducted numerous orchestras, including the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, The Syracuse Orchestra, Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, Harmonia Orchestra, MusicaNova Orchestra and the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra. In April 2023, he debuted with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and he also served as the Houston Ballet Orchestra's youngest ever guest conductor. Quinn studied conducting at the National Orchestral Institute with Marin Alsop and James Ross, at the Eastern Music Festival with Gerard Schwarz, José-Luis Novoand Grant Cooper and has worked with Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Robert Spano, Edwin Outwater, Carl Topilow, Christopher Zimmerman and Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
His chamber music has been performed and presented by celebrated organizations such as Voices of Change, Midsummer's Music, The Cliburn, One Found Sound, loadbang, MAKE trio, Atlantic Brass Quintet, Axiom Brass, and the Cézanne, Julius, Invoke and Baumer string quartets. His solo music has been championed by distinguished soloists such as David Cooper (associate principal horn, Los Angeles Philharmonic), Lara Downes (pianist), Mark Davidson (principal trombone, Utah Symphony), Holly Mulcahy(concertmaster, Wichita Symphony) and Jordan Bak and Michael Hall (viola soloists).
His compositions for winds have been performed by renowned bands of Southern Methodist University, University of Texas, University of North Texas, University of Michigan, University of Maryland, Texas Christian University, Penn State, University of Toronto, University of Georgia, Purdue University, University of Minnesota, and Northern Illinois University, as well as the Dallas Winds, Encore Wind Ensemble, Metropolitan Winds and others throughout the United States and Canada.
His music has also received significant radio play. He served as KMFA 89.5's inaugural composer in residence and has had his music broadcast on NPR in the US, CBC in Canada, BBC in London, ORF in Vienna, RAI in Italy, in countries such as Switzerland, Hungary, Latvia, Israel and many others.
A multiple prize winner in composition, he has received numerous awards and honors from such organizations as the American Composers Forum, Voices of Change, Texas A&M University, ASCAP, the Dallas Foundation, Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble, National Flute Association, International Clarinet Association, the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York, the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, the Heartland Symphony Orchestra and the Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra. In 2020, Quinn was honored by the Dallas Morning News as a finalist for 'Texan of the Year'.
Quinn has studied composition at the SMU Meadows School of the Arts, with Dr. Winston Stone at University of Texas at Dallas and has also worked closely with renowned composers David Maslanka, Jake Heggie, Christopher Theofanidis, Libby Larsen, David Dzubay and Robert X. Rodriguez.
