About the Music Forum Series

The MIT Music & Theater Arts Music Forum is a series of public presentations by music scholars from inside and outside of MIT. Hosted in the Lewis Music Library and presented in partnership with MIT Libraries, the MTA Music Forum Series gives the MIT Community an opportunity to engage with leading voices in every field of music scholarship. Past presenters include John Harbison, Julia Wolfe, Terry Riley, Don Byron, and others. 

Please join us for a light reception following the talk.

About the Speaker

Patrick Harlin’s “aesthetics capture a sense of tradition and innovation.”

The New York Times

PATRICK HARLIN’S music is permeated by classical, jazz, and electronic traditions, all underpinned with a love and respect for the great outdoors. His works have been performed on subscription series concerts by the St. Louis Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, the Rochester Calgary, and Reno Philharmonics, ROCO Houston, and countless others. Recent album releases include the Billboard chart topping Wilderness Anthology on the Kinetic Ensembles debut album and Rapture on the Grammy-nominated album American Rapture by the Rochester Philharmonic. Harlin was the inaugural composer in residence with Michigan’s Lansing Symphony Orchestra (2019-2023) and the inaugural winner of the Aspen Hermitage Prize. While at the Hermitage Artist Residency on Manasota Key, Harlin and Patterson met.  They have been collaborating since, including on works The Art of Flight with Patterson’s art installation Murmuration.

Harlin’s interdisciplinary research in soundscape ecology—a field that aims to better understand ecosystems through sound—has taken him to imperiled regions around the world, including the Amazon rainforest and the Book Cliffs of Utah. His baseline recordings for ecological impact studies are also the fodder for artistic inspiration. His works draw parallels between the sounds of the natural world and those of the concert hall, seeking to bring awareness to the importance of sound in our environment.  Recent works include a piano concerto for Van Cliburn finalist Clayton Stephenson for piano, looping pedal, and orchestra, and an upcoming consortium commission for wind ensembles The Time Traveler.  His exhibition The Truth of the Night Sky with longtime collaborator Anne Patterson is currently on display at the Sarasota Art Museum.   Harlin holds a doctorate in music composition from the University of Michigan.  He currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan where he teaches at the University of Michigan.