Anthony Paul De Ritis

Described as an “eclectic whose works draw on popular and electronic music” (Wall Street Journal), and a “genuinely American composer” (Gramophone), Anthony Paul De Ritis has received performances around the world including at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Le  Poisson Rouge, Lincoln Center, Beijing’s Yugong Yishan, Seoul’s KT Art Hall, the Italian  Pavilion at the World Expo in Milan, and UNESCO headquarters in Paris. 

De Ritis’ 2012 release Devolution with the GRAMMY® Award-winning Boston Modern  Orchestra Project and BMOP/sound was described as a “tour de force” (Gramophone), and features three of De Ritis’ symphonic works — Chords of Dust, Legerdemain, and Devolution: a  Concerto for DJ and Symphony Orchestra featuring Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky as soloist. His  Pop Concerto (BMOP/sound, 2017) featuring Eliot Fisk was lauded by Classical CD Review as  “a major issue of American music,” and his Electroacoustic Music – In Memoriam: David Wessel (Albany Records, 2018) was cited as a “Best of 2018” in the Electronic Music category by  Sequenza 21. The American Record Guide described De Ritis’s third album on BMOP/sound featuring five of De Ritis’s orchestral works for Chinese traditional instruments and symphony  orchestra (June 2023) as “filled to the brim with breathtaking virtuosity and imaginative tone painting.” 

De Ritis completed his Ph.D. in Music Composition at the University of California, Berkeley (1997), where he served as a teaching assistant to David Wessel at Berkeley’s Center for New  Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT). He received his M.M. in Electronic Music  Composition from Ohio University (1992) under Mark Phillips, and his B.A. in Music with a concentration in Business Administration from Bucknell University (1990), studying under composers Jackson Hill, William Duckworth, and Kyle Gann. De Ritis engaged in summer study at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France under Philippe Manoury, Tristan Murail,  and Gilbert Amy (1991, 1992), and also holds a Masters of Business Administration with an emphasis in high-tech from Northeastern University (2002). De Ritis is co-founder of the music technology program at Northeastern University in Boston, where he is Professor and former Chair of the Music Department (2003–2015); and is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Electronic Music Foundation Institute and the International Computer Music Association.