COMPOSER
Bio
Carlos Bandera is a composer whose music is characterized by a glacial unfolding of sonic landscapes. He often expands simple elements into large-scale musical structures, through which he explores the interplay of harmony, noise, and texture.
Bandera’s orchestral work Materia Prima, which was premiered in 2023 at Carnegie Hall by the American Composers Orchestra, was described by the New York Classical Review as having “one of the most immersive and elegant transitions from nothingness to complexity that one has heard.” His music has been performed by groups such as the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the American Composers Orchestra, the Albany Symphony, the Westside Chamber Players, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Dogs of Desire, Mivos Quartet, ~Nois, Ensemble Linea, Hotel Elefant, Earspace, Hebrides Ensemble, Nebula Ensemble, and Omnibus Ensemble. In 2022, his piece Meristem was performed by the Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra during their “On the Road” tour across South East England.
He has been a fellow at Copland House’s CULTIVATE, Orchestra of St Luke’s DeGaetano Composition Institute, Composers Conference, and the Underwood New Music Readings. He has also been a resident composer at the Black House Collective New Music Workshop and has attended the Delian Academy for New Music and Time of Music (Musiikin aika).
In 2025, his Spirare IV will be performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble on the closing concert of the 2025 Northwestern University New Music Conference (NUNC! 6), his Spirare III will be performed by the Cerus Quartet at the 29th Annual Midwest Graduate Music Consortium Conference, and his dissertation composition sic rerum summa novatur semper will be premiered by the Chicago Composers Orchestra.
Bandera holds degrees from the Peabody Institute (MM) and Montclair State University (BM). He is currently pursuing a PhD in Composition and Music Technology at Northwestern University, where he received the William T. Faricy Award and has taught courses in aural skills, composition, and notation software. His mentors have included Elizabeth Brown, Dean Drummond, Marcos Balter, Kevin Puts, Alex Mincek, and Hans Thomalla.