Michelle Lou

Title: To care for the bodies of the dead
Commission: 2021
Completed: 2023
Instrumentation: Bass clarinet, bassoon/contrabass basson, baritone saxophone, trumpet, horn, trombone, percussion, harp, piano, electric guitar, viola, violoncello, double bass, live electronics performer
Premiere Location: October 20, 2023 at Kobacker Hall in Moore Musical Arts Center, Bowling Green, OH
Premiere Ensemble: Ensemble Dal Niente 


Michelle Lou is a composer and performer that works mainly in the realm of electro-acoustic and computer music. Her work has been presented at Wien Modern, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Darmstadt Ferienkurse, Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik, The Festival of New American Music, the MATA Festival in New York City, The 66th American Music Festival at the National Gallery in Washington D.C., The Rainy Days Festival in Luxembourg, Ultima Festival in Oslo, Chance and Circumstance in Brooklyn, amongst others. She received degrees in double bass performance and composition from UC San Diego and Stanford University. She was a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and an Elliott Carter Rome Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Rome. She has taught composition and electronic music at Dartmouth College and the University of California, Santa Cruz.