Inspired by the overlay of different viewpoints and their sonic possibilities, Ted Hearne creates personal and multi-dimensional works that often explore unconventional interactions of text and music, and are rooted in a sense of inquiry. The New York Times has praised Mr. Hearne for his "tough edge and wildness of spirit," and "topical, politically sharp-edged works." Pitchfork called Hearne's work "some of the most expressive socially engaged music in recent memory -- from any genre," and Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker that Hearne's music "holds up as a complex mirror image of an information-saturated, mass-surveillance world, and remains staggering in its impact.”
Twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Hearne has collaborated with artists of many disciplines, including Saul Williams, Erykah Badu, Dorothea Lasky, Pam Tanowitz, Damon Davis, Sanford Biggers, Rachel Perry, Ashley Tata, Patricia McGregor and Daniel Fish. Recent works of note include over and over vorbei nicht vorbei (an opera commissioned by Komische Oper Berlin); Farming (a musical-theatrical work for The Crossing, envisioned as a conversation between Jeff Bezos and colonist William Penn); Place (a fiery meditation on gentrification and displacement, written with Saul Williams); Sound from the Bench (a vocal work setting the Supreme Court oral arguments to Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, with poet Jena Osman); and The Source (setting texts by U.S. Army Private Chelsea Manning and the U.S. Dept of Defense cables she was responsible for leaking to Julian Assange and Wikileaks).
Ted is a member of the composition faculty at University of Southern California. His work has been played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, and San Francisco Symphony, and conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and Michael Tilson Thomas. Ted performed his evening length songs project Dorothea at Carnegie Hall in October 2023. Upcoming appearances include conducting at the New York City Ballet, a premiere at the Münchener Biennale, and newly commissioned works for the Royal Ballet of London and an operatic adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin’s seminal science-fiction work The Dispossessed, with Kaneza Schaal and WildUp.
The New York Times: Review of THE SOURCE BAM Next Wave Festival 2014
The New York Times: Review of ANIMALS Park Avenue Armory 2018
The New York Times: Review of PLACE BAM Next Wave Festival 2018
The New York Times: Preview for PLACE with Patricia McGregor and Saul Williams, 2018