Department of Music

Over winter break, Associate Professor of Music Eric Nathan was at a mountain retreat in Italy when he got inspiration for a violin concerto... one of Nathan’s three projects for his three-year position as an inaugural composer in residence for the R.I. Philharmonic... [he] plans to compose two other “dream projects”: a symphony and a requiem.

“These are all really big pieces that one doesn’t get the opportunity to work on often,” he said, noting that more modern compositions tend to be shorter due to rehearsal time constraints, while the pieces he’s working on are longer works like many older compositions.

The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School (RI Phil) is pleased to announce the appointment of acclaimed composer Eric Nathan as Composer in Residence for a three-year term, beginning in September 2026.

Over the weekend, the Brown Arts Institute hosted “The 21st Century Orchestra,” a three-day contemporary music festival highlighting innovative orchestral music... Associate Professors of Music Eric Nathan, Anthony Cheung and Wang Lu joined Rovan to curate the event. The festival looks “at how the orchestra can innovate but also create change in the years to come,” Nathan said

Musicians from the New York Classical Players provided expert insights and performed Brown students’ original works as part of a Seminar in Composition course.