Originally from Baltimore, MD, Beth Denisch earned her undergraduate degree in music composition from North Texas State University and her Masters of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in composition from Boston University. She studied with Pulitzer laureates John Harbison and Bernard Rands. Dr. Denisch has received grants from ASCAP, Meet The Composer, American Composers Forum and the American Music Center. The National Register's Who's Who in Executives and Professionals includes her in its 2003-04 edition. The Philadelphia Classical Symphony and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts awarded her for the instrumental septet The Singing Tree, inspired by Maxfield Parrish's painting Princess Parizade Bringing Home the Singing Tree as part of PAFA's Parrish retrospective. A subsequent PCS commission for Goblins Night Out! for full orchestra with narrator premiered by them as part of PCS's family music series.

In addition to the commissioned work for Equinox Chamber Players, Women, Power and the Journey, other ensembles who have commissioned and performed her works include the Handel & Haydn Society, the Wellesley Symphony, the Brockton Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Composers String Quartet, Arcadian Winds, and the Cambridge Madrigal Singers. Additional performances include electronic music for the multi-media installation She's Learning How to Speak at the Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Rochester, Michigan; the Forth Project for solo piano which has been performed numerous times, including in China, and her septet Sexing the Cherry, an instrumental suite based on the Jeanette Winterson novel, it also has had numerous performances. Dr. Denisch has been a member of the Composers in Red Sneakers, taught at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and currently is Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music and on the Faculty at Northeastern University. She founded and directs the Boston Chapter of the American Composers Forum and continues writing for exciting and innovative ensembles and soloists.

Quotes regarding her compositions:

... a respected Boston composer ... colorful ... pictorial ... ends joyfully and ebulliently."
Ellen Pfeifer--Boston Herald

... brimmed with personality and drive ...
Anthony Tommasini--The Boston Globe

... great simplicity and terseness ...
Susan Larson--The Boston Globe

... sparing and imaginative ... bucolic and serene ... syncopated and delightfully stylized ... Beautiful and humorous too, ... created the desire to hear more of Beth Denisch.
Richard Johnson--Bay Windows

This project has been made possible through the generous support of the Regional Arts Commission-St. Louis and the Missouri Arts Council.

Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis


Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.