Episode 93

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Published on:

24th Feb 2026

3.4 - Amy Beth Kirsten

Amy Beth Kirsten is celebrated for her theatrical and conceptual approach to composition. Her music fuses voice, instrument, language, and movement into works that blur boundaries between concert, theatre, and ritual.

The 2025–26 concert season includes the completion of Eating the Underworld, a pop-song cycle for Bergamot Quartet and the composer as vocalist; the release of Misfit Toys, a grade 5 work for concert band; and her participation in the 2025 Midwest Clinic in Chicago.

Kirsten’s previous season featured the premiere of Infernal Angel, an opera created with the Curtis Opera Theatre and baritone Ty Boque, inspired by the life of Gilles de Rais and his relationship with Joan of Arc. Earlier evening-length works include Savior (2018), a mystical re-telling of the story of Joan of Arc commissioned for the 20th anniversary of Chicago Symphony’s MusicNOW and named to the Chicago Tribune’s “10 Best Classical Concerts of 2018”; QUIXOTE (2017), a 90-minute theatrical piece created during a residency at Montclair State University; and Colombine’s Paradise Theatre (2014), commissioned and produced by the multi-Grammy-winning eighth blackbird, praised by The Washington Post as a “tour de force” and by The New York Times as “dark, wild, and engrossing.” She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2014 with strange pilgrims, a multimedia work for chorus, orchestra, and film.

In addition to her musical work, Kirsten is also a writer whose poetry has appeared in several journals. Writing as Aster Isler, she recently completed her full manuscript, Giving Up—the beginning of a parallel literary journey that threads through her compositional voice. Her poetry can be found in Oberon (2024), Sol Magazine (2010), Avatar Review (2009), and Red Wheelbarrow (2008).

Kirsten is also dedicated to mentoring the next generation of performing and creative artists. At The Juilliard School, she mentors composers and interdisciplinary creators through her composition studio and teaches two courses — Theatre Études and OperaCOMP. At The Curtis Institute of Music, she teaches individual composition lessons. Previous faculty posts include Oberlin College and Conservatory, the Peabody Institute, and Longy School of Music.

She lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with her beloved doodle-hound, Roux-ga-Roux and her slow-wandering orange cat, Higgs-B.

https://www.amybethkirsten.com

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About the Podcast

Composer Chats
Composer Chat is a podcast where we talk a little bit about music, a little bit about life, and a whole lot about whatever we feel like at the moment! Each episode I am joined by a special guest composer and we will chat about their pathway towards success in their musical career!

About your host

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Jason Nitsch

Jason Nitsch’s music is equally at home on the concert stage, in outdoor venues, and streaming online, reaching the broadest audience of musicians, performers, and music enthusiasts possible. As a composer dedicated to the exploration of new ideas, his music has evolved over a 25-year career to incorporate more and more non-traditional elements, such as effect tracks, sound drops, and enveloping electroacoustic works combining live and pre-recorded elements. Much of his work is rooted in a large ensemble context; his wind ensemble works have received thousands of performances throughout the US including at Midwest, State Music Conferences including Texas, Colorado, and Kentucky Music Educators Associations, Colleges and Universities like Baylor University, the University of North Texas, and Syracuse University, and at other regional music festivals (ITEA).

In recent years Jason has focused on more intimate chamber musical settings, including collaborations with solo musicians such as trumpeter Kate Amrine , Cellist Carolyn Regula (The Cello Doll) and vocalist Michaela Catapano, as well as chamber groups across the US (Chicago Brass Choir), while continuing expand his sizable catalog of works for larger instrumental forces.

Jason is well known for his work as an educator, dedicated to providing young promising musicians with the foundational experiences on which a lifetime of music-making can be built, and is pursuing research into the ways that music students process their experiences as learners and performers.

Combining his long career in music with a deep love of science fiction and a natural talent for storytelling, Jason recently launched his first podcast, “Beyond the Belt: Adventures from the Outer Rim.” “Beyond the Belt” is a collection of 8 original dramatic science fiction episodes for which he served as writer, producer, and composer. It tells the story of a scientific research experiment gone horribly wrong. With Zombies (of course!).

Jason has released three digital albums in recent years, including the Season One Soundtrack from the Beyond the Belt podcast, “1000 Steps to Nowhere", a collection of chamber music compositions, and most recently “The Dead Teach the Living,” featuring nine vocal collaborations ranging from solo works to Orchestral compositions.

Jason is a lover of dogs, video games, and all things Star Wars (yes, even the prequels). He is also a husband, father of two budding musicians, and a patron of art forms that stretch traditional boundaries.

He currently lives in Waxhachie, TX with his family. He can occasionally be sighted lurking at select music conferences.