Elizabeth Gartman

Elizabeth Gartman is a composer and soprano currently based in New York City. Her compositions call attention to the implications behind the vocal instrument paired with the physical body. In addition, her work explores themes of process in performance, as well as active listening and response.

Elizabeth’s music has been commissioned by companies such as Washington National Opera, New Chamber Ballet, the NYC Virtuoso Singers, Beth Morrison Projects, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Chemie, InfraSound Ensemble, and Pax Duo, and received performances at festivals and venues including National Sawdust, Mark Morris Dance Group, New Music on the Point, and Songfest. Elizabeth’s opera It is a Comfort to Know, co-written with frequent collaborator and librettist Susan Bywaters, won Runner-Up of Beth Morrison Project’s 2022 Next Gen Cycle 2. This followed the success of Elizabeth and Susan’s [Weight] for soprano and tape, which was awarded the William Schuman Prize for Most Outstanding Score in the 2021 BMI Student Composer Awards, and their song cycle When You Leave Me, which was selected for Score Follower’s Call-for-Scores in 2022. Additional accolades include being named a composition fellow for the American Opera Initiative 2023, twice recognition as a finalist in ASCAP’s Morton Gould Young Composer Competition (2021, 2019), the Karl Canter Prize for Orchestral Composition (2021), and the Giampaolo Bracali Composition Award (2021), among others. As a performer, Elizabeth is dedicated to the contemporary dramatic stage, with a background in classical voice and a current emphasis on new works.

Elizabeth holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music (M.M. in Composition, 2021) and the University of Illinois (B.M. in Composition and Vocal Performance, 2019).

Manhattan School of Music Precollege faculty since 2021.