N O M I   E P S T E I N composer || curator


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Epstein is an active and passionate curator and producer, founding and leading a•pe•ri•od•ic the critically acclaimed experimental music ensemble devoted to notated, acoustic, experimental music. In 2012, she independently curated and produced the 5-concert John Cage centennial festival in Chicago involving performers, sound artists, dancers, and multi-media artists from around the Midwest. Her work with Cage’s music and influence led her to present at numerous centennial events including a presentation at the Northwestern University Cage Symposium and serving as composer-in-residence at the Florida State University Cage Festival. 

photo by Marc Perlish


"I am interested in sonic realms which focus on timbre, and often carry out timbral interplay over time. I conceive of these sounds and structures as tangible and tactile objects which offer an exploration of sonic elements without expressive, gestural objectives. My works consist of textures which remain both regular and irregular in their rhythmic, melodic and orchestrational representations. Contrast between elements are generally subtle and without extroverted qualities. Notational practices combine different forms including traditional and graphic,  spatial, and text conventions."

In 2014, Epstein co-organized (with Peter Margasak) The Chicago Wandelweiser Festival which brought Jürg Frey, Eva-Maria Houben, and R. Andrew Lee to Chicago for the 4 festival events. The festival featured a•pe•ri•od•ic’s debut album release concert, featuring a cd of ensemble works by Jürg Frey on which Epstein performs. In 2017, she co-organized (with Shanna Gutierrez) the first US large-scale festival of the music of Galina Ustvolskaya, 'Power In Sound,' a 3 day festival in conjuction with a conference organized by the U of Chicago/UIC 'Found in Time: Forgotten Experiments in Soviet Arts.'


As a practitioner of experimental music, Epstein performs regularly with a•pe•ri•od•ic ensemble, her multimedia, experimental improvisation trio NbN, and Articular Facet. She continues to research, lecture on, perform and program experimental music.


As an educator, she has served on the faculties of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Northwestern, DePaul and Roosevelt Universities, and in 2016 served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Iowa. Along with her work in academia, she held the position of head of music theory at the British School from 2007-2017. Currently, she is Associate Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music. Epstein holds degrees from Columbia University, New England Conservatory, and Northwestern University.