Perry Townsend

Perry Townsend is an American composer based in New York City. He is a founder of The Next Stage Music Ensemble, and his works have been performed at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Roulette, Greenwich House, Christ and St. Stephen’s Church, the Écoles d’Art Américaines in Fontainebleau and the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida, among other venues. His music has been featured by the American Modern Ensemble, at the ppIANISSIMO Festival, Spring Artfest, and American Music Week in Sofia, Bulgaria, and was broadcast throughout Europe on the Bulgarian National Television satellite network. He has won honors from ASCAP, Arts International, Greater Boston Choral Consortium, Southeastern Composers Symposium, American Music Center, Sonic Circuits Festival, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, and North Carolina Arts Council.

Townsend’s debut CD, "No Suggestion of Silence" , released in August 2001 on the Capstone label [ [http://www.capstonerecords.org/CPS-8685.html Capstone records] ] , has received favorable reviews in several publications. 21st Century Music called the disc “truly refreshing ... stands out against the vast array of contemporary music recordings available today,” and The New Music Connoisseur hailed Townsend’s “brilliantly intertwined musical ideas.” Fact|date=May 2008

His music has been commissioned by the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Barbad Chamber Orchestra, Goliard Chorale, Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Winston-Salem Symphony and Raleigh Boychoir.

As a pianist and conductor, he has premiered new works at Steinway Hall and The Kitchen, and has conducted several New York area choruses. Principal composition studies were with Thea Musgrave, Leo Kraft and Sherwood Shaffer. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina and currently based in New York City, he is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and the Aaron Copland School of Music.

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