Photo by Lauren Nelson

The music of Steven Snowden (b. 1981) has been described as “A visceral evocation of raw communal memories” (GoldenPlec, Dublin), “Beguiling… combining force with clarity” (San Francisco Classical Voice), “Wonderfully dynamic” (Interlude Hong Kong),  “Marvelously evocative”, (Cleveland Plain Dealer), and “The most wildly intriguing sight and sound I have experienced at a concert” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer). Writing music for dance, theater, multi-media installations, and the concert stage, his work often focuses on underground American history and how past events relate to modern society. While his musical influences are deeply rooted in bluegrass, folk, and rock, he utilizes non-traditional techniques and processes to compose works that don’t squarely align with any single genre or style.

A native of the Ozarks countryside, he began studies in music composition in 2002 and received degrees from Missouri State University (BM), University of Colorado at Boulder (MM), and University of Texas at Austin (DMA). In 2012-2013 he was a Fulbright Scholar in Portugal, researching the implementation of motion tracking technology as a means to facilitate collaboration between music and dance. After a decade of working full time as a freelance composer, he joined the faculty of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology where he teaches electronic and acoustic music composition.

American Composers Forum National Commissioning Prize
ASCAP Morton Gould Awards
Aspen Music Festival – Susan and Ford Schumann Fellowship
Austin Critics’ Table Awards
Blank Foundation Commissioning Grant (Richmond, VA)
Composers Conference at Wellesley College
Copland House CULTIVATE – Composer Fellow
Copland House/Hoff-Barthelson Commission
Fullbright Commission, Portugal
I-Park Fellowship
IC Hong Kong – Composer Fellow
Kent Kennan Endowed Fellowship
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble Prize
Lydian String Quartet Commissioning Prize
MacDowell Artist Residency – Norton Stevens Fellowship
MACRO Commissioning Prize
Marble House Fellowship
New Music USA Large Ensemble Commission
Sinquefield Charitable Trust Commissioning Grant
Tesla Quartet Prize
UT Graduate School Continuing Fellowship
Yaddo Artist Residency – Bernard V. Winebaum Fellowship
Appalachian Chamber Music Festival
Atlantic Center for the Arts
Avaloch Farm Music Institute
Copland House
Festival of New American Music
Future Places Portugal
GroundWorks DanceTheater
I-Park
Lake George Music Festival
MacDowell
Marble House
Mizzou International Composers Festival
Nief Norf
Richmond Symphony
Sinquefeld Reserve
Taneycomo Festival Orchestra
Yaddo
~ University Residencies ~
– Boston Conservatory at Berklee
– Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
– Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar
– Truman State University
– University of Central Missouri
– University of Illinois, Chicago
– University of Northern Iowa
– University of Missouri
– University of Tennessee, Martin
– Virginia Commonwealth University