Assistant Professor of Composition
MEDIA
ABOUT
Composer Alyssa Weinberg uses color, texture and gesture to channel big emotions, creating music that is “quite literally stunning” (Chicago Tribune). She is fascinated with perception and loves to play with form, subverting expectations to create surreal scenarios, often in dreamy, multidisciplinary productions. Her album Pieces of Light with cellist Gabriel Cabezas, a meditation on the properties of light, altered perception, and hallucinatory experiences inspired by visual artist James Turrell, will be released by MASS MoCA Records in October 2026, and her new opera Claude & Marcel, with librettist Stephanie Fleischmann and director Elkhanah Pulitzer, commissioned by West Edge Opera premieres August 2027.
Weinberg’s music has been performed by celebrated artists and ensembles around the world, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and San Diego Symphony, as well as So Percussion, yMusic, PUBLIQuartet, and the Aizuri Quartet. She has received commissions and awards from organizations including Chamber Music America, New Music USA, FringeArts and the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Barnes Foundation, and the Curtis Institute of Music. She has been awarded residencies at the Copland House, MacDowell, and Avaloch Farm Music Institute, among others. Weinberg’s percussion music has been celebrated for its inventive use of color and innovative performance techniques, most notably for her prepared vibraphone duo Table Talk which has received hundreds of performances across the globe.
Weinberg is a member of the composition faculty at Mannes School of Music, and has held positions at institutions such as the Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School, among others, and she is the founding director of the Composers Institute at the Lake George Music Festival. Weinberg holds a Ph.D. in composition from Princeton University, as well as degrees from Vanderbilt University, Manhattan School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music.
COURSES
MUS 226J
Orchestration & Instrumentation
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Gabriel Cabezas, “Pieces of Light”, Mass MoCA Records, October 2026
Nicholas Finch, NouLou Chamber Players, Jason Seber, “Cello Status “, Bright Shiny Things, May 2025: Caligo.
Arx Duo: "Table Talk", released by Vic Firth
RECENT PRESS
Composer Alyssa Weinberg uses color, texture and gesture to channel big emotions, creating music that is “quite literally stunning” (Chicago Tribune). She is fascinated with perception and loves to play with form, subverting expectations to create surreal scenarios, often in dreamy, multidisciplinary productions. Her album Pieces of Light with cellist Gabriel Cabezas, a meditation on the properties of light, altered perception, and hallucinatory experiences inspired by visual artist James Turrell, will be released by MASS MoCA Records in October 2026, and her new opera Claude & Marcel, with librettist Stephanie Fleischmann and director Elkhanah Pulitzer, commissioned by West Edge Opera premieres August 2027.
Weinberg’s music has been performed by celebrated artists and ensembles around the world, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and San Diego Symphony, as well as So Percussion, yMusic, PUBLIQuartet, and the Aizuri Quartet. She has received commissions and awards from organizations including Chamber Music America, New Music USA, FringeArts and the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Barnes Foundation, and the Curtis Institute of Music. She has been awarded residencies at the Copland House, MacDowell, and Avaloch Farm Music Institute, among others. Weinberg’s percussion music has been celebrated for its inventive use of color and innovative performance techniques, most notably for her prepared vibraphone duo Table Talk which has received hundreds of performances across the globe.
Weinberg is a member of the composition faculty at Mannes School of Music, and has held positions at institutions such as the Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School, among others, and she is the founding director of the Composers Institute at the Lake George Music Festival. Weinberg holds a Ph.D. in composition from Princeton University, as well as degrees from Vanderbilt University, Manhattan School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music.
MUS 226J
Orchestration & Instrumentation
Gabriel Cabezas, “Pieces of Light”, Mass MoCA Records, October 2026
Nicholas Finch, NouLou Chamber Players, Jason Seber, “Cello Status “, Bright Shiny Things, May 2025: Caligo.
Arx Duo: "Table Talk", released by Vic Firth
Contact Information
Email address
alyssa.
Website
weinbergmusic.com
Teaching Areas
Composition
Education
Doctor of Philosophy
Princeton University
Artist Diploma
Curtis Institute of Music
Master of Music
Manhattan School of Music
Bachelor of Music
Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University