Clayton resident Travis Alford is a composer, trumpeter, improviser, educator, amateur woodworker, dog owner, husband, and father (not exactly in that order). He has worked with a number of ensembles and musicians, including the Meridian Arts Ensemble, the Lorelei Ensemble, Talujon Percussion, Christopher Grymes (clarinetist), Sharon Harms (Soprano), and Benjamin Herrington (trombonist), on the creation and performance of his music, which has been described as:
“graceful” (NY Times),
“truly sublime” (Boston Classical Review), and
“overwhelming and other-worldly” (Boston Music Intelligencer).
Recognition for his work includes the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2019), the American Prize in Music Composition (2015), the Sandra Shea Fisher Prize for Exceptional Achievement in the Creative Arts (2014), the League of Composers/ISCM Composers’ Prize (2012), and the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award (2010). Travis is currently a professor of composition at ECU.
As a performer, Travis is committed to the promotion and conservation of music both old and new, and has played trumpet with the New England Philharmonic, the Boston New Music Initiative, the Equilibrium Concert Series, New Music Brandeis (co-director, 2011-13), The Gentlemen’s Very (Very) High Art Society of South Waltham (composer/performer/improv ensemble – co-founder and director, 2011-2015), both the brass ensemble and orchestra at Boston’s historic Park Street Church (co-founder/director, 2008-2015), the Northeast Italian Band, the Triangle Brass Band, the Tar River Symphonic Band and the ska/reggae band The Allstonians. He also, from 2008-2010, co-directed and curated the experimental COMPROVISED Music Series in Boston and NY. Travis can also be found blowing on the harmonica from time to time.
Travis currently lives in Clayton, NC, with his wife Lauren, son Owen and dog Toby. For more information, and to listen to Travis’s music: http://www.travisalford.com