Meg Huskin (b. 1995)
Meg Huskin (b. 1995) is a composer, vocalist, and writer whose work embraces melody and the rhythms of language to tell stories that blur the boundary between modern and traditional themes. Coming from the world of opera and musical theatre as a trained singer, her compositions often use music and words to tell stories. Much of her work aims to address issues of inequality and to magnify voices that have historically been underrepresented in classical music.
Her work has been performed with the LunART Festival – one of the country’s only festivals to feature work exclusively by self-identifying women – and Lynx Project’s Autism Advocacy series, a program which commissions songs using poems written by young people with autism. Meg’s work has also been featured in the Madison New Music Festival, and Chicago’s inaugural songSLAM competition, where she earned second prize for “Tikka Masala.” As a composer who works primarily with singers, she’s been praised for natural text-setting and her use of musical comedy. She aims to enliven the traditional concert going experience with songs about everyday people and scenarios, giving the performers a chance to stretch their acting chops. Oftentimes, Meg chooses to write her own texts for the songs she composes.
As a lifelong fan of opera theatre, Meg has been involved with numerous aspects of the theatre-making process. Her motto is “Just say yes.” Therefore, she’s had many experiences both on stage, and behind the scenes. She’s been assistant director and/or stage manager on productions of Turn of the Screen, Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi, and others across Madison, Chicago, and Baltimore. In 2017, as part of a senior thesis, she partially completed an original opera using a self-written libretto, Fayaway.
Meg is currently studying at the Peabody Institute of Music, working towards her Master’s degree in music composition. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison where she majored in music composition, voice performance, and creative writing. She has studied with composers Du Yun, Gilda Lyons, Stephen Dembski, among others. She has participated in New Amsterdam Record’s Composing Workshop, the Wintergreen Composer’s Retreat and the From-Page-to-Stage Emerging Composers program. Her choral work “They Tore Down the Church” won the Mullins Sacred Music Prize in 2016.
Meg remains an active singer, having studied with soprano Mimmi Fulmer. As a writer, her articles have been published by I Care if You Listen.com and Lyric Opera of Chicago’s program books.
Past Events
2021
- December 13: Premiere of new vocal/piano work Submerged for Peabody Institute’s Song Analysis class
- August 8: North Star Music publishes “Modern Music for New Singers; Soprano Vol.2” including The Singer from Wisconsin
- April 11: SongSLAM Chicago, premiere of We Went to Paris in Our Apartment (Chicago, IL)
2020
- July 15: NewMusicShelf publishes the “songSLAM songbook Vol.1” including Tikka Masala
- March 7: Autism Advocacy Series Concert (Chicago, IL)
- February 1: Autism Advocacy Series Concert, premiere of 3 commissioned works, including Maddie and Dakotah, Sunday Morning, and Three Poems by Nina
2019
- August 9: Madison New Music Festival (Madison, WI) premiere of eclectic
- June 8: LunART Festival (Madison, WI) performance of Oblivion
- April 14: SongSLAM Chicago, premiere of Tikka Masala
- April 5-7: New Moon Opera‘s (Chicago, IL) performances of Il Campanello & Gianni Schicchi (Stage Manager)
- March 2: Lyric Opera of Chicago publishes “Modern Match: Ariodante & Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” in program
- February 16: Lyric Opera of Chicago publishes “Modern Match: La traviata & Princess Diana” in program
- February 2: Lyric Opera of Chicago publishes “Modern Match: Elektra & Neftlix Dramas” in program
2018
- December 2: OLMC Concert Series (Chicago, IL) performances of Coyote, Oblivion, The Flea, and Table Manners
- December 1: Lyric Opera of Chicago publishes “Modern Match: Cendrillon & Chance the Rapper” in program
- November 17: Lyric Opera of Chicago publishes “Modern Match: Il trovatore & Harry Potter” in program
- November 3-18: Petite Opera Productions (Park Ridge, IL) performances of Don Giovanni (Assistant Director and Chorus)
- August 4: Scapi Magazine (Chicago, IL) 24-hour concert premiere of Coyote
- June 30: LunART Festival (Madison, WI) premiere of Wheezie and Bear Save the Day
Meg Huskin 