About

Andy McFarlane composes acoustic and electronic music, drawing on a range of modern and historical styles to portray themes of joy, vigor, mindfulness, hope, and the darkness they overcome. He has written for a wide array of talents, including performances by the New York Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet, the Hinge Ensemble, the Cincinnati New Music Ensemble, the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and the Springfield Youth Symphony. His recent electronic music projects include his Sound City application, a virtual user-controlled sound environment, presented at the University of Cincinnati’s Sonic Installations event. Andy received his DMA in Composition with an electronic music cognate in 2024 from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, along with his MM in Composition. He earned his BM in Composition from Cedarville University.

I grew up loving sound— the steady rhythm of splitting wood, the bustling of forest wildlife, wind rustling seas of corn stalks and leaves, and a variety of music played loud overtop, always offering complex polyrhythms and harmonies. From age 6, I sat in my rural Ohio home at my family’s piano trying to replicate the music I loved—rock, rap, jazz, bluegrass—improvising my own disjointed melodic phrases over borrowed chords, exploring new sounds, and cultivating them through repetition. While attaining my Bachelor of Music in Composition from Cedarville University, I quickly fell in love with classical music and the endless new, centuries-old world it offered. After years of study, I realized this world was so young compared to the ancient earth around us. My goal is to take and make sense of the amalgam of sounds and amplify this beautiful and terrifying world I experience to my audience.

-Andy

Andy currently teaches Music Theory and Composition as a part-time faculty member at Northern Kentucky University. He also offers private lessons and tutoring in composition, music theory, trumpet, piano, and jazz improvisation. Inquire about lessons here!