photo by Mary Kang
Ethan Frederick Greene was born on October 10, 1982 in South Orange, New Jersey. He grew up playing trumpet under the tutelage of Calvin Hughes – former sideman to Billie Holliday and Coleman Hawkins – at the Newark School of the Arts. As a soloist in the South Orange Middle School Chorus, Ethan sang soprano on such hits as “Wind Beneath my Wings”, “The SOMS School Song” and “Celebration”. After a devastating voice change, Ethan began to compose.
Ethan creates music and sound art for concert hall, stage and screen. His work explores new sonic possibilities through extended instrumental technique and electronic manipulation, with a steady focus on more traditional, often pop-influenced rhythm and harmony. Ethan has received commissions from the Houston Grand Opera, the East Coast Contemporary Ensemble, Opera Southwest, the Fountain City Ensemble, line upon line percussion, and other performers and ensembles in the U.S. and abroad. Notable honors include Boston Metro Opera’s Mainstage Award, First Prize in the Austin Peay State University Composers Competition, First Prize in Opera Southwest’s Brabson Composers Competition and selections from SEAMUS, ICMC and SCI.
Ethan is an avid collaborator with visual artists, choreographers, filmmakers and video game developers. Recent collaborations include sound design for Deboray Hay‘s Perception Unfolds, a new installation at the Blanton (coming 2014); This American Life (Showtime); The Conspirator: the Plot to Kill Lincoln (National Geographic); Night Sky, an experimental feature film by Alison O’Daniel; and music and sound design for videogames Spider: the Secret of Bryce Manor and Waking Mars (Tiger Style Games). On the side, Ethan plays trumpet and melodica in the chamber-pop grump-rock band Linen Closet, and produces hip-hop and electronica tracks with various artists.
Ethan received his B.A. in Music and Pre-med studies from Amherst College (2004), M.Mus. in Composition from Rice University (2009), and is a D.M.A. candidate in Composition at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches courses in electronic music and ear-training. Principal teachers include Russell Pinkston, Bruce Pennycook, Yevgeniy Sharlat, Arthur Gottschalk, Karim Al-Zand, Kurt Stallmann, and Eric Sawyer.