Elliott Miles McKinley

Elliott Miles McKinley’s music is regularly performed in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Commissions include those from the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Society, the SOLI Chamber Music Ensemble, the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra, the Martinu String Quartet, and the Essex Chamber Music Players. His orchestral music has been performed by The Minnesota Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic, and the Czech Radio Symphony, and he has had music featured on international festivals including the Alba International Music Festival in Italy, the Mid-American Contemporary Music Festival, the Ernest Bloch Music Festival, Indiana State University's Contemporary Music Festival, and the SPARK Festival of Electronic Music and Art. He is a recipient of a number of awards, grants, and fellowships including those from BMI, ASCAP, SCI, Meet the Composer, the American Music Center, the American Composers Forum, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Among other honors, McKinley was awarded a 2009 New Frontiers for the Arts and Humanities grant from Indiana University.

McKinley holds a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz studies from the New England Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music degree in composition from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Minnesota. He has held teaching positions in theory and composition at Washington and Lee University, and Indiana University East where he also developed the music program and served as coordinator for four years. McKinley is also active as a performer and improviser and is a founding member of the electroacoustic improvisation ensemble, earWorm.