Chelsea Loew (b. 1992: Charleston, SC) is a composer, performer, and educator whose interests are rooted in emotion, vulnerability, humanity, nature, and interaction. Her compositions often explore the relationships (constructive and damaging) between language and intended expression. She has worked with groups and artists including Chór Narodowy Forum Muzyki, Yarn|Wire , Charleston Symphony Orchestra, members of Talea Ensemble, Popebama, Altered Sound Duo, Siroko Duo, Tony Arnold, and others. Festivals featuring her music include Sacrum Profanum at Play Kraków, the Composers Conference at Brandeis, the National SCI Composers Conference, the Ball State New Music Festival, New Music on the Point, the Oregon Bach Festival, Southern Division American Choral Directors Association, Piccolo Spoleto, and the European American Musical Alliance. She is a recipient of two Fulbright research grants in composition and the Composer-in-Residence for the Taylor Festival Choir. Chelsea is a member of the modular, technologically focused experimental group Ensemble Decipher, and she is also a core member alto of the Taylor Festival Choir. She hold degrees from Stony Brook University (PhD), Eastman School of Music (MA), and College of Charleston (BA).
Currently residing in Wilmington, NC, Chelsea serves as Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina where she teaches composition, upper-level music theory and aural skills courses, and orchestration. She is also Composition Director for Nief-Norf Summer Festival. Previously, she taught at SUNY Potsdam and Stony Brook University. While pursuing her Masters at Eastman, Chelsea served as the graduate assistant to the Composition Department and was the choir director and staff accompanist for Plank South Elementary School. During her undergraduate degree at College of Charleston, Chelsea taught piano and music theory for 5 years at Encore Music Studios, was a music theory tutor for CofC, played piano for the CofC Contemporary Ensemble, served as the alto section leader for CofC Concert Choir and the Church of the Holy Communion, and took the role of assistant director of CofC Concerts.
Outside of music, Chelsea loves cooking, caring for her many plants, being on the water, and making pottery.
Curriculum Vitae
*photographs by Sara Ann Green Photography