Kurt C. Nelson

2023 Honorable John Eaton Memorial Competition

KURT C. NELSON is a classically trained composer living in Philadelphia. His music is influenced by Alban Berg, Luigi Dallapiccola, and Tadeusz Baird—modernist composers with a distinctly expressive approach to atonality. He has studied with prominent composers Ladislav Kubik, Krzysztof Meyer, and, most recently, Louis Karchin at New York University, earning a Ph.D. in composition and music theory in 2015.

Kurt's music has gained recognition through frequent performances by leading contemporary ensembles in New York, including the JACK Quartet, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the Washington Square Contemporary Music Society, and violinist Miranda Cuckson. He is currently an adjunct professor of composition and music theory at the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University, Philadelphia.