Marcos Balter

Born in 1974 in Rio de Janeiro. Described as “sumptuous” (Los Angeles Times), “minutely crafted” (Chicago Tribune) and “spellbinding” (New York Times), Marcos Balter’s music is primarily rooted in experimental manipulations of timbre and hyper-dramatization of live performance. With recent appearances at Carnegie Hall, Bâtiment des Forces Motrices and Sala São Paulo, his upcoming projects include collaborations with Bill T. Jones, yMusic, International Contemporary Ensemble, Deerhoof and Sound Icon. Winner of Harvard’s Fromm Composition Award and fellowships from the Guggenheim, Tanglewood/Leonard Bernstein and Civitella Ranieri Foundations.

Balter is the Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia University, having previously held professorships at the University of California San Diego, Montclair State University, and Columbia College Chicago, visiting professorships at the University of Pittsburgh, Northwestern University, and the University of Pennsylvania, and a pre-doctoral fellowship at Lawrence University. He currently lives in Manhattan, New York.

In 2025, Marcos Balter is a tutor at the Darmstadt Summer Course for the first time.