Bryce Dessner

Cincinnati born American composer and guitarist Bryce Dessner has spent his life moving between musical genres. Together with his twin brother Aaron, Dessner plays in the rock band The National, is a member of the group Clogs, and is also a composer of chamber, symphonic, and film music, receiving commissions from some of the world's most renowned ensembles and film studios. His work draws inspiration from jazz, rock, Baroque music, and, above all, minimalism.

In 2006, Dessner  founded the MusicNOW Festival  in Cincinnati, which annually showcases the best in contemporary music. His film compositions include the Oscar-winning The Revenant (2015) and The Two Popes (2019) starring Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins. In 2013, Bryce Dessner  released Aheym, marking his debut as a composer of classical music. Alongside pieces for the celebrated Kronos Quartet, the album features Little Blue Something, inspired by his encounter with the music of Czech alternative duo Irena and Vojtěch Havlovi. A visit to the Mexican home of director Alejandro González Iñárritu, meanwhile, influenced Dessner’s first work for two pianos and the Labèque sisters—the chamber suite El Chan.

In 2017, he composed a Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra for the same performers, which had its Czech premiere in February 2021 at Prague’s Rudolfinum with the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov. At Bychkov’s request, Dessner also composed Mari, which received its Czech premiere in Prague at the Rudolfinum.

A resident now of Paris, Bryce Dessner acknowledges the influence of several French composers, including Olivier Messiaen, Francis Poulenc, and Henri Dutilleux.