Amy Beth Kirsten

Amy Beth Kirsten (born 1972) is an American composer. She has worked with musical groups and ensembles including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and eighth blackbird, and is one of the co-founders of HOWL ensemble.

Kirsten has been writing songs and choral pieces since learning the piano as a child. She was a vocal and piano major at Benedictine University but had not had a composition lesson until the age of 30. Upon the encouragement of her boyfriend (and now former husband), Christopher Theofanidis, she started applying for and joining festivals. In 2009, at the age of 37, Kirsten was selected to participate in the Norfolk New Music and Band on a Can Festival; and in 2010 she was one of the composers at the Mizzou New Music Festival.

Kirsten is most notable for her works for “Composed Theatre”, which is referred by Matthias Rebstock as “the creative process and the performance of pieces that are determined by compositional strategies and, in a broader sense, by compositional thinking.” Her major theatrical works include Savior (2016-2018) and QUIXOTE (2015-2017), and Colombine's Paradise Theatre (2010-2013). Her notable instrumental compositions include Pirouette On a Moon Sliver (2011) for flute solo and Drink Me (2010) for chamber orchestra, both with elements of vocalization.

Having received her Doctor of Musical Arts at the Peabody Institute and Master of Music at Roosevelt University, Kirsten currently serves on the composition faculty at Longy School of Music. She has also been the faculty of the annual highSCORE festival in Pavia, Italy since 2011.