Sarah Kirkland Snider is an American composer of contemporary classical music, born in 1973 and based in New York after graduating from Wesleyan University in 1995. A leading figure in the so-called indie-classical movement, she blends elements of indie rock and popular idioms with classical forms across a body of work spanning orchestral pieces, chamber music, song cycles, choral music, and ballet. Her works have been performed by major ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

Snider is regarded as a significant figure in contemporary American music, praised by critics for her technical command and lyrical, atmospheric style. She received the Elaine Lebenbom Award from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2014, the only orchestra-sponsored award given annually to a living female composer of any age or nationality, and in 2019 the Washington Post named her among the top female composers in classical music. Her cross-genre approach has helped broaden contemporary classical music’s audience and has influenced the ongoing dialogue between indie and popular music and the concert hall tradition.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Kirkland_Snider