About
The music of Michael Bratt has been described as “traveling through a circuit board at the speed of light,” “well-crafted… colorfully orchestrated and totally engaging,”(Cleveland Classical) and “bursting with inventive, energetic spirit” (The Plain Dealer). Composer, Conductor, Digital Artist – Michael Bratt has received numerous honorsincluding official selection at the Foro Internacional De Música Nueva Manuel Enríquez 2013, Composer/Fellow for the Canton Symphony Orchestra 2008-2009, regional finalist for the 2008 SCI Student Composer Commission, 2007 Verdehr Trio Composition Contest, honorable mention at the 2007 Minnesota Orchestra Institute, and the 2005 Bain Murray Composition Award among others. He has been commissioned by many organizations including The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, The Cleveland Clinic, The Cleveland Public Theatre, The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, and others. His compositional output is diverse, having written for orchestra, chamber groups, solo instruments, and electronic media. His music has been premiered throughout the United States and internationally in cities such as Stockholm and Vienna among others. Nationally recognized groups such as the Verdehr Trio, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Zeitgeist, and the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo have premiered his compositions. His music has also been featured on Public Radios’ Around Noon with Dee Perry as well as WVIZs’ television show, Applause.
Dr. Bratt was the conductor of the Ursinus College Wind Ensemble and the Ursinus College String Ensemble for three years. During this time, Dr. Bratt has been active in supporting new works. He led the Ursinus College Wind Ensemble in their first commission from internationally renown composer Mark Nowakowski as well as world premieres from noted composers Eric Sessler, John HC Thompson, and others.
Having attended Kent State University, Berklee College of Music, Cleveland State University (BM, MM), and the Cleveland Institute of Music (DMA), Dr. Bratt has an extensive background in modern music. He has studied with many award-winning composers such as Keith Fitch, Margaret Brouwer, Paul Schoenfield, Andrew Rindfleisch, and Greg D’Alessio. He has also taken master classes with Pulitzer Prize winning composers Bernard Rands, Michael Colgrass, Melinda Wagner and the late Donald Martino.
An immense advocate and supporter of modern music, Dr. Bratt is the co-founder and Board Chair of FiveOne Experimental Orchestra, a Cleveland-based new music ensemble. FiveOne Experimental Orchestra is one of sixteen organizations chosen nationally for a SEED grant by the Robert Rauschenberg Society and has been hailed as a “fascinating mix of musical styles,” (Cleveland Classical). Dr. Bratt has also collaborated with award winning composers Mark Nowakowski and Jeremy Allen, in founding Multimode Filter, an electronic composer ensemble dedicated to producing cutting edge electronic music and sound design for concert halls, audio books, video games, and film.
During his tenure at the University of Mary Washington, Dr. Bratt founded the Electronics Eagles – the University of Mary Washington Society for Electronic Music. The Electronics Eagles have explored many topics in contemporary electronic music including spatialization, audio diffusion, circuit-bending, live-coding, analog synthesis and HID control. He has significant experience with sequencing programs Digital Performer, ProTools, Audacity, and Logic as well as music programming environments Max/MSP/Jitter, Super Collider, Pure Data and Csound. Dr. Bratt has worked in the recording studios of Kent State and The Cleveland Institute of Music. His film music can be heard in the independent movies Holiday Lie, Catching Salinger, All That You Love Will Be Carried Away and Guys (the former was shown at the Montreal World Film Festival and the latter won best in show at the Ohio Indie Gathering).
Dr. Bratt has taught at Ursinus College, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music (TIMARA Department, Technology Music and Related Arts), the Northeast Ohio branch of Indiana Wesleyan University, and currently teaches music composition and technology at the University of Mary Washington.