Justin Weiss is a composer and conductor whose music has been described as “mesmerizing… simultaneously colorful and sparklingly direct” (Amici per la Musica) and “powerfully visual” (Third Coast Review). His music explores the perception of time, energy, and transformation through collective textural play and melodically driven lyricism, immersing the listener in dramatic and vibrant sonic worlds. Much of Justin’s recent work has been focused on the translation and abstraction of visual arts and visual elements into sound.
Justin’s work has been recognized with a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the League of Composers/ISCM Prize, the Musiqa Emerging Composers Commission Award, the Prix Langage Musical from Les Écoles d’Art Américaines de Fontainebleau, the Walter E. Aschaffenburg Prize for Composition and awards and recognitions from institutions including ASCAP, Society of Composers, Inc., The American Prize, Tribeca New Music, YoungArts, Encore Wind Ensemble, and multiple nominations for the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco Tremplin Musical. Justin was a Susan and Ford Schumann Composition Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Justin’s music has been performed internationally by ensembles and musicians including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Albany Symphony, Quatuor Diotima, Grossman Ensemble, Akropolis Reed Quintet, TAK Ensemble, ~Nois Saxophone Quartet, Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble, Sandbox Percussion Quartet, Vertixe Sonora, VICE Ensemble, CHROMA Ensemble, Constantinides New Music Ensemble, Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, Encore Wind Ensemble, Colin Currie, Huw Watkins, and Michael Foyle. Justin’s music has been presented at many festivals and conferences including the Mise En Festival, Constellation Chicago, DiMenna Center, Ear Taxi Festival, North American Saxophone Alliance, Fontainebleau (FR), CHIMEFest, Red Note Music Festival, CAMPGround, VIPA (SP), and soundSCAPE (IT).
In addition to composing, Justin is an avid conductor, particularly in the realm of new music. He is the co-artistic/executive director and conductor for the new Chicago-based contemporary music ensemble, Mycelium New Music. He is also the conductor of the University of Chicago New Music Ensemble and co-director of the Montclair State University New Music Ensemble. He has led performances with VICE Ensemble, Oberlin Sinfonietta and Contemporary Music Ensemble, and soundSCAPE Sinfonietta, and has premiered dozens of new works internationally. Justin is also active in scholarship of contemporary music, focusing particularly on the perception of silence, stillness, and fragility in contemporary music and the impact that these have on the listening experience. He has presented research conferences including the Music Theory Southeast/South-Central Society for Music Theory, the Research on Contemporary Composition Conference, Manhattan International Composers Conference, and Midwest Graduate Music Consortium.
Justin is an Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Florida and was previously a Visiting Assistant Professor at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and taught at Montclair State University, William Paterson University, University of Chicago, and Brightpoint Community College.
Justin holds a PhD from the University of Chicago where he studied with Augusta Read Thomas. He completed his undergraduate studies at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and studied composition with Jesse Jones, Aaron Helgeson, and Lewis Nielson. Justin received a Master’s degree in composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he was the recipient of the Dr. Mosco Carner Scholarship and studied with Oliver Knussen, Philip Cashian, and Edmund Finnis.