Composer in Residence
Composer and educator Noam Faingold (b. 1984) is passionate about composing and collaborating in traditional, multi-disciplinary, and cross-genre projects. Faingold’s music has been praised as “…lyrical…”, “…exhilarating…”, and “…a tour-de-force of Jazz melded with Classical” by The New York Times, The BBC, and Downbeat Magazine, among others.
Professional highlights include the recent Carnegie Hall debut of his string quartet Where Our Voices Hide When We Must Speak, performed by the Kennedy Center’s Lehner String Quartet (originally commissioned by Jeff Smith for Signature Quartet). Recent new works include pieces for Pulitzer Prize finalist Leilehua Lanzilotti, cellist Inbal Segev, and violinists Domenic Salerni (Attacca Quartet) and Jesse Mills (Horszowski Trio). His music has also been performed by chamber ensembles the PubliQUARTET, Argus Quartet, and Fidelio Trio, and pianists Michael Brown (CMS) and Peter Dugan (Host of NPR’s From the Top). His arrangements and orchestrations have been performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, US Navy Band, OK Mozart Festival, and Pentatone Records.
Faingold is most excited in creating works for multi-stakeholder collaborations, composition projects, and special events. Recent projects include Open Wide the Doors for All a violin/piano duo for Washington DC’s Sumner Museum 150th anniversary and Duke Ellington School of the Arts/DCPS students. His A Prayer for Those Who Look Away for Inbal Segev, was turned into a video collaboration with YouTuber The Cello Doll, and also featured as a 3-month installation at the Sumner Museum. The Defiant Poet: Elegy in Memory of Yevgeny Yevtushenko brought together the late 20th century poet and Shostakovich collaborator’s family, Tulsa Signature Symphony and the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, and Navona Records to commemorate Yevtushenko upon his passing. We Persist, one of the first original virtual orchestra pieces was supported by the George Kaiser Family Foundation and has been viewed over 50,000 times on multiple platforms.
As an educator, Faingold is excited about composition program building, providing composition mentorship, and generating enthusiasm for new music. In 2023 he started collaborations with the US Navy Band and Thalea String Quartet to platform and co-compose music by and with DC Public Schools students at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School. He also recently mentored DCPS’ student composer’s first orchestral piece for the year’s 100+ student/teacher district Honor Ensemble. Additional mentorship and advocacy work occurs as composer-in-residence with Washington Musica Viva, and as arts mentor with the Mid-America Arts Alliance and the Music Teachers National Association. Previous roles include Visiting Artist in Composition at The University of Tulsa, and creator/director of the composition programs at Tulsa Community College and The bART.
Faingold has held fellowships through the Salzburg Global Seminar, The Bowdoin International Music Festival, The Atlantic Music Festival, and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, who funded his Music Composition PhD at King’s College London.
His music can be found on various record labels, and in the Sphinx catalogue of Latin American Cello Works and Latin Orchestral Music catalogue.
