Ursula Kwong-Brown (b. 1987) is a composer and media artist from New York City, currently living in Berkeley, California. Described as “atmospheric and accomplished” by The New York Times, her work has been performed in diverse venues including Carnegie Hall, le Poisson Rouge and the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center in NYC, St Paul’s Chapel and Miller’s Theatre at Columbia University, and the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Awards include an ASCAP Honorable Mention, the Chicago Ensemble’s “Discover America” Composer Award , Columbia University’s prestigious Sudler Arts Prize, and the Bowdoin Festival Composition Prize. Ursula received her B.A. from Columbia University in 2010, graduating with honors in music and biology. She worked for two years as a laboratory manager for Dr. Darcy Kelley, studying the musical intervals in the vocalizations of Xenopus laevis, a species of African clawed frog. In 2012, she changed direction and started a combined M.A./Ph.D. program at the University of California in Berkeley with generous support from a Mellon-Berkeley fellowship. After earning her M.A. in Music Composition in 2014, she decided to expand her focus to include New Media studies and has been experimenting with sound spatialization at the Center for New Music & Audio Technologies, and learning about design and interface aesthetics at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. Ursula graduated in May 2018 with a Ph.D. in Music Composition & New Media.
Upcoming performances
Fall 2018, TBD – **Premiere** of Where the I Comes From for soprano and orchestra with text by Josh Bell
Performance by the UC Berkeley Symphony with Anne Moss
Spring 2019, TBD – **Premiere** of NEW WORK for orchestra
Performance by the Berkeley Symphony
Performance by the UC Berkeley Symphony with Anne Moss
Spring 2019, TBD – **Premiere** of NEW WORK for orchestra
Performance by the Berkeley Symphony
Recent performances & activities
May 9, 2018 – **Premiere** of I should have taken the train for piano & electronics with text by Hannah Howard
Performance in Hertz Hall at UC Berkeley
http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/townsend.html?event_ID=114596&date=2018-05-09
June 3, 2018 – In Transit for flute, cello and guitar with tape
Commissioned by the Black Cedar Trio. Performance at the San Francisco Public Library
http://blackcedar.biz/upcoming-events/
April 29, 2018 – **Premiere** of Black & Blue for large ensemble & electric guitar members of the Berkeley Symphony
Performance at the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Inspired by the art of Theresa Hak-Kyung Cha: Black and Blue
https://bampfa.org/event/full-symphony-and-ballet
April 20, 2018 – **Premiere** of Night & Day for orchestra by the Jacksonville Symphony
Presented by the American Composers Orchestra EarShot program
https://www.jaxsymphony.org/event/ear-shot/
Performance in Hertz Hall at UC Berkeley
http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/townsend.html?event_ID=114596&date=2018-05-09
June 3, 2018 – In Transit for flute, cello and guitar with tape
Commissioned by the Black Cedar Trio. Performance at the San Francisco Public Library
http://blackcedar.biz/upcoming-events/
April 29, 2018 – **Premiere** of Black & Blue for large ensemble & electric guitar members of the Berkeley Symphony
Performance at the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
Inspired by the art of Theresa Hak-Kyung Cha: Black and Blue
https://bampfa.org/event/full-symphony-and-ballet
April 20, 2018 – **Premiere** of Night & Day for orchestra by the Jacksonville Symphony
Presented by the American Composers Orchestra EarShot program
https://www.jaxsymphony.org/event/ear-shot/
Video above: March 31, 2018
Ellen Ruth Rose performing with me at the Berkeley Art Museum for the "Full Moon" concert series curated by Anna Clyne
(For a better audio recording, go to my "LISTEN" page)
Ellen Ruth Rose performing with me at the Berkeley Art Museum for the "Full Moon" concert series curated by Anna Clyne
(For a better audio recording, go to my "LISTEN" page)