28 October 1957, Santa Monic, CA – 2 September 2018, Long Beach, CA
American composer and educator
- The Four Winds (2000) for brass ensemble
- Opposable Thumbs for brass ensemble
- Throw Caution to the Wind for brass ensemble
Carolyn Bremer has been dubbed a composer “driven by hobgoblins of post modernist cant.” Bremer came to composition on the heels of intensive training as an orchestral bassist. Her catalogue contains works based on feminist symbolism (Athene), baseball (Early Light), and popular culture (It Makes Me Nervewracking). Recently, Bremer has incorporated her photography and music into multimedia works.
Bremer has had recent performances of her works at Carnegie Hall; in Germany, Norway, and Sweden; and for the gala 150th anniversary concert at West Point. Her commissions include the Symphony for Wind Band, premiered by Ray Cramer at Indiana University; Returns of the Day, premiered by Thomas Dvorak at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Pieces of Eight, premiered by the California State Honor band; Spark, premiered by Adam Brennan at Mansfield University; and Saturnalia, premiered by Calvin Hofer and the Mesa State Wind Symphony at the 2008 Best of the West Festival. Recent CDs include the El Paso Wind Symphony on Summit Records, the Heritage of American Band of the US Air Force, the Towson University Symphonic Band, and the Monarch Brass Ensemble.
Her work Early Light is a mainstay in the wind ensemble repertoire, receiving hundreds of performances each year. The original version for orchestra has been performed by professional orchestras including the Houston Symphony, California Philharmonic, Chattanooga Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Holland Symphony, and Waco Symphony.
Bremer studied at the Eastman School of Music, CalArts, and received the Ph.D. in composition from UCSB. She was Chair of Composition at the University of Oklahoma from 1991-2000 where she held the O’Brien Presidential Professorship. Currently, she is Professor and Area Director of Composition and Theory, and Associate Department Chair of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University Long Beach.