Celeste Oram

Celeste Oram is a composer and musician based in New York City. Her works are scenarios in which music-making is the catalyst for exploring sonic & social histories and micro-cultures and her work encompasses instrumental writing, song & speech, electronics, visual media, theatre, and improvisation. Oram has been recognised by nominations for the 2020 & 2014 SOUNZ Contemporary Award, the 2017 CANZ Trust Fund Award, and the 2016 Kranichstein Composition Prize from the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. Her collaboration with choreographer Bobbi Jene Smith on ‹Pierre› premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in 2021. Other recent projects include an experimental radio opera created with Ensemble Adapter (Berlin/Reykjavík) and premiered at Berlin's Ultraschall Festival in 2022 and a concerto for solo improvisor, three voices, and orchestra written for violinist Keir GoGwilt in 2019. As a conductor and lifelong choral musician, Oram has served as assistant director of the San Diego Women's Chorus, director of the UC San Diego Chamber Singers as well as musical director for several community & student productions of opera and musical theatre. She holds a PhD in music composition from the University of California San Diego and is an alumna of the University of Auckland.