Kevin McCarter

Kevin McCarter writes music for chamber groups, solo performers, choral ensembles, and orchestras. His music has been performed in a variety of venues. The Chicago Chamber Orchestra gave the premiere of Opening Ideas at the Chicago Cultural Center. The Manhattan Choral Ensemble commissioned As the Earth Brings Forth Her Bud for a spring performance on the Columbia University campus. Central Brass performed Prelude and Excursion at a new music festival at the University of Central Missouri. The New York Composers Circle presented Early Voices on a program of chamber music and songs at Saint Peter’s Church in New York. Miniature Trio for Violin, Piano, and the Space Between the Notes was performed in conjunction with a poem on one of In Mid Air Productions’ programs in Rockaway NJ. McCarter’s organ music has been played at church services across the country as well as on recitals.

Three works have reached a wider audience than the others. Blossoms and a Breeze, a piece for flute, oboe, and clarinet, was written for the Ocean Wind Trio, who performed it on several of their programs. It has also been played by other ensembles, including New Music North in Thunder Bay ON. Three Songs on Poems of Emily Dickinson received an Encore grant, leading to performances in Paris, Vienna, Rome, and cities in the American Midwest. Other sopranos have sung the songs on recitals in New York and Virginia. Opening Ideas, in addition to concert performances, was recorded for Masterworks of the New Era, Volume 8 (ERM Media) and has been heard on a number of radio broadcasts.

McCarter earned his bachelor’s degree at Principia College, where his studies included composition, piano, and organ. He also earned a Master of Music in accompanying from the University of Southern California and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of Maryland.