Bryce Dessner

Bryce Dessner is a vital and rare force in new music. He is an Oscar-nominated composer and has won Grammy Awards for his work in classical, with his band The National and for his film music. He is regularly commissioned to write for the world’s leading ensembles, from Orchestre de Paris to Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is in demand as composer in residence. He is also a high-profile presence in film score composition, with credits including Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant with the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.  

In 2027 Dessner presents his major new opera, Herakles Mad, in collaboration with author Anne Carson and visual artist Ragnar Kjartansson. Based on Carson’s book, H of H Playbook, the opera takes a contemporary look at Greek tragedy Herakles, by 5th century BC poet Euripides, and explores the equally contemporary themes of patriarchy, toxic masculinity, war and redemption. Co-commissioned by Theater Basel, LA Philharmonic, English National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago., the world premiere takes place in Basel in May 2027.

Dessner also premieres a second important staged work in 2027, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, based on the ground-breaking book of poetry by Ocean Vuong. Further details on the world premiere and subsequent performances will be announced.

In the 2026-27 season there will be two album releases of large works by Dessner, firstly from violinist Pekka Kuusisto who, as global champion of the work, pairs Dessner’s Violin Concerto with a series of pieces inspired by the concerto, co-written with Dessner and produced by the likes of Sufjan Stevens and Jon Hopkins (Sony Music, autumn 2026). Secondly, pianist Alice Sara Ott releases Dessner’s Piano Concerto - herself the dedicatee of the work - plus solo piano works from Love, Icebox, the conceptually staged programme based on excerpts of the letters from John Cage to Merce Cunningham. (Deutsche Grammophon, spring 2027). Dessner, Ott and French actress Isabelle Huppert premiered Love, Icebox at Paris’ Fondation Louis Vuitton in December 2025 and the work will receive its UK premiere at London’s Barbican in March 2027.

Further highlights of the season include Dessner’s artist residency with Sydney Symphony in September, which will see multiple works of his performed as well as Dessner appearing with the orchestra. Dessner also performs in concerts to celebrate Steve Reich’s 90th birthday, including at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and the Philharmonie de Paris.

Meanwhile, Dessner’s high level film and TV soundtrack collaborations continue with a major new film for Netflix by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, with whom Dessner previously worked on The Two Popes. Dessner has also scored the forthcoming film, A Statement, by Oscar winner Tom McCarthy and which premiered at the New York Film Festival.

The 2025-26 season included composer residencies at Konzerthaus Berlin and with Czech Philharmonic, world premieres including that of his Cello Concerto, plus the soundtrack release to Train Dreams (Netflix). The score’s title song, co-written by Dessner and Nick Cave, received an Academy Award (Oscar) nomination in 2026 for Best Original Song.

Also in 2025 Dessner was the recipient of the Samuel Beckett Gold Medal from Trinity College Dublin, recognising his outstanding contribution to public discourse through the arts.

Dessner’s previous albums include: Solos (Sony Classical), showcasing his collection of solo instrumental pieces in collaboration with some of the world’s leading musicians; El Chan; St. Carolyn by the Sea (both on Deutsche Grammophon); Aheym, commissioned by Kronos Quartet; Tenebre, an album of his works for string orchestra which won a 2019 Opus Klassik award and a Diapason d’Or; When we are inhuman with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Eighth Blackbird (2019) and Impermanence (2021) with Australian String Quartet and which won the Libera award. 

Also active as a curator, Dessner is regularly requested to programme festivals and residencies around the world, such as at the Barbican, Philharmonie de Paris, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich, where during the 2023-24 season he was Creative Chair. Dessner currently co-curates the festivals Sounds from a Safe Harbour and PEOPLE Berlin, which returns for a new edition in October 2026.

“Bryce is one of the leading figures of the new" ~ Esa-Pekka Salonen

“he is a major voice of his generation” ~ Steve Reich