Elizabeth Ogonek, Composer

American composer Elizabeth Ogonek (b. 1989) is Associate Professor of Composition at the Eastman School of Music. She has previously served as Mead Composer-in-Residence of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 2015-18 and has also held teaching positions at Oberlin Conservatory and Cornell University. 

Sought after for her chamber and orchestral music, Ogonek has received commissions from the Boston, Chicago and London Symphony Orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the BBC Proms, the Fromm Foundation, the Harvard Musical Association, the Lakes Area Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Other orchestras that have performed her music include the Antwerp, Baltimore, Bavarian Radio, Bournemouth, Detroit, Gävle, St. Louis, Swedish Radio, and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ensemble Modern, the Oslo Philharmonic, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Her music has been conducted by Andris Nelsons, Christian Reif, Elim Chan, Esa-Pekka Salonen, François-Xavier Roth, George Benjamin, Kirill Karabits, Ricardo Muti, Tim Weiss, and Xian Zhang. She has worked closely with violinists Benjamin Beilman and Karen Gomyo, and pianist Xak Bjerken.

Elizabeth Oganek’s music has been described as “shimmering,” “dramatic,” and “painstakingly crafted” by the Chicago Tribune and “elusive and wondrous” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Ogonek’s  primary teachers were Don Freund, Claude Baker, Michael Gandolfi, Donald Crockett, Stephen Hartke, and Julian Anderson. A former Beinecke and Marshall Scholar, she holds degrees from Indiana University, the University of Southern California and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.