Michael Genese
Composer | Educator | Multi-Instrumentalist
MICHAEL GENESE [dʒə-nis] (they/them) is a composer, educator, and multi-instrumentalist. Their work explores how sonic, artistic, and educational mediums can reveal new understandings of the self, and how music can foster intersectionality in our collective thinking. They hold degrees in Music Education, Vocal Performance, and Music Composition, having studied with Timo Andres, Han Lash, and Missy Mazzoli.
Genese is an Artist Ambassador with the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Project Manager for the New Bedford Symphony’s K-12 Music Keyword Equity Database, and author of The Minor 9th, a publication about new music and cultural strategy. From string orchestra pieces about land stewardship to sound installations in NYC parks addressing police misconduct, Genese’s wide-ranging creative work is rooted in frameworks of restorative justice and abolition. Their compositions have been recognized with a NYSCA/NYFA Arts Fellowship in Music and Sound (2022) and the Bohuslav Martinů Prize in Orchestral Composition (2020).
Genese teaches private violin, piano, and voice lessons in New York City. They have served as a co-producer for The Choral Commons and are a founding member of internationally acclaimed social justice artist collective, VOICES 21C. Genese echoes the sentiment that the arts and humanities can be invaluable tools for affecting our states of consciousness and ignorance as art-makers and listeners, to further win the world we need.
SRG Soundwalk
A series of seven sound pieces, each assigned to a specific location where the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG) brutalized protestors in 2020 and 2021.
Michael Genese selected for the NYSCA/NYFA 2022 Artist’s Fellowship in Music and Sound
Premiere: FERNNE, IN WATER
Winner of the 2020 Bohuslav Martinů Prize, FERNNE, IN WATER received its premiere on December 12, 2021 by Mannes Orchestra at Tishman Auditorium in New York City, conducted by Kelly Lam.
Catalogue of Works
