COLIN KEMPER

Composer | Artistic Director
Tuscaloosa, Alabama

 

EDUCATION

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DMA — University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
MM — University of Alabama
MA — Tulane University
BA — Tulane University

 

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENT

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Artistic Director
University of Alabama Contemporary Music Ensemble — Tuscaloosa, AL (2026–Present)
Co-Artistic Director (2023–2025)

Part-Time Temporary Instructor of Music Composition (Non-Tenure-Track, Semester Appointment)
University of Alabama — Tuscaloosa, AL (2022–Present)

Instructor of:

• Music Composition (individual/group lessons, undergraduate)

• 16th-Century Counterpoint (classroom instruction)

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Music Theory & Aural Skills
University of Alabama — Tuscaloosa, AL (2016–2022)

Composer-in-Residence & Director, UA Contemporary Ensemble
University of Alabama — Tuscaloosa, AL (2017–2018)

First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa Choir Fellow — Tuscaloosa, AL (2023-2026)

 

ALABAMA IMPACT & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

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Contemporary Music Ensemble concerts presented at:
Moody Music Building; The Bama Theatre; Turbo Coffee — Tuscaloosa, AL

• 15+ concerts curated

• 44+ UA student compositions premiered

• Cross-disciplinary collaborations with UA Theatre & Dance

• Experimental electronic and electroacoustic programming

• Community-based performances

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Recent Commissions

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• Maestro Ransom Wilson and the Huxford Symphony Orchestra — two movements for symphony orchestra.

• Dr. Julia Barnett and Dr. Alina Windell — Duos Flautas Frescas, for flute duo and electronics.

• Li “Kisa” Linxi, choreographer and filmmaker — screendance collaboration.

• Kate Fleming, choreographer and filmmaker — stage dance collaboration.

 

SELECTED WORKS 

(Most Recent First)

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Wormwood (2025)

Screendance

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Collaboration with dancer and choreographer Kate Fleming.

• The University of Alabama Contemporary Ensemble Concert — Tuscaloosa, AL (10/2025)

• New Orleans International Screen Dance Festival — New Orleans, LA (10/2025)

• Sans Souci Screen Dance Festival — Boulder, CO (11/2025)

• Alabama Dance Festival — Birmingham, AL (01/2026)

• American College Dance Association (ACDA) National Screendance Gala — screened at nine regional conferences:
  California State University, Long Beach (Feb 4–7, 2026); The Dance Complex, Cambridge, MA (Feb 19–22, 2026); Brenau University (Feb 26–Mar 1, 2026); Seton Hill University, Greensburg, PA (Feb 27–Mar 3, 2026); Ohio University (Mar 6–9, 2026); University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (Mar 7–11, 2026); University of North Texas (Mar 8–11, 2026); Western Illinois University / Illinois State University (Mar 13–16, 2026); University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Mar 18–21, 2026)

• RADFest (17th Annual Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival) — Wellspring Theater, Kalamazoo, MI (Mar 5–8, 2026)

• Festival Videodanza de Puerto Rico — Museum of Art of Puerto Rico (05/2026)

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Covid (2025)

String orchestra

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• Moody Music Building — Tuscaloosa, AL (02/2026; 11/2025)

 

CETI (2025)

Solo piano & stage dance

Collaboration with dancer and choreographer Kate Fleming.

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• Premiere: Moody Music Building — Tuscaloosa, AL (10/2025)

• MFA Dance Show — Tuscaloosa, AL (11/2025)

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SOLO VOCAL WORKS:

Sonnet Series (in progress)
Commissioned in part by Anna DeGraff. Four works for solo voice.

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1) Daughter, I dreamed (2025) 

Collaboration with poet Sarah Cheshire. 

For solo voice. Premiere: South Dakota State University (08/2025); subsequent performance planned at the University of Alabama 03/2026.

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2) Southern Gothic (2025)

Collaboration with poet Brett Shaw.

For solo voice. Premiere: South Dakota State University (08/2025)

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3) You talk to me like a child (2025)

Collaboration with poet Riley Bingham.

For solo voice. Premiere: South Dakota State University (08/2025)

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4) My State with Kings (2019)

For solo voice. Premiere: the University of Alabama (2019); subsequent performances at the University of Alabama (2024) and South Dakota State University (08/2025).

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Side Effects May Include (2025)

Electronics & stage dance

Collaboration with dancer and choreographer Kate Fleming.

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• Premiere: Sans Point Dance Company — Birmingham, AL (08/2025)

 

Between Id and Ego (2024)

Electronics & stage dance

Collaboration with dancer and choreographer Kate Fleming.

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• Premiere: MFA Dance Show — UA Theatre & Dance, Tuscaloosa, AL (12/2024)

• Alabama College Dance Association Regional — Gainesville, GA (02/2026)

 

An Instrumental Everything (2024)

Flute & stereo playback

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• Premiere: Moody Music Building — Tuscaloosa, AL (02/2024)

• UA Contemporary Music Ensemble Concert — Tuscaloosa, AL (10/2024)

• University of Nebraska — Omaha, NE (10/2023)

• Tulane University, Dixon Hall — New Orleans, LA (09/2025)

• Selected: National Flute Association Convention — Portland, OR (08/2026)

 

Creative Process (2024) 

Screendance, Bb clarinet. 

Collaboration with choreographer George Berry.

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• Creative Process Exhibition, Stella-Granata Art Gallery, Tuscaloosa, AL 09/2024-10/2024.

 

Ouroboros (2024) 

 

Banjo, voice, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, three tambourines, vibraphone, melodica, cello, and viola. 

 

• Moody Music Building Tuscaloosa, AL 4/2024.

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Buffalo (2023)

Solo piano

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• Premiere: Composition Faculty Showcase — Moody Music Building, Tuscaloosa, AL (04/2023)

• The College Music Society National Conference — University of Miami, Miami, FL (10/2023)

• Duquesne University — Pittsburgh, PA (09/2024)

• Indiana University of Pennsylvania — Indiana, PA (09/2024)

• Covenant Living on the Shores — Seattle, WA (10/2024)

• 405 Shrader — San Francisco, CA (11/2024)

• Music at Noon — Sacramento, CA (11/2024)

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Walk as Though to Wake the Earth (2022) 

alto flute, Bb clarinet, and stereo playback

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• Gorgas House — The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (04/2022)

• Maxwell Hall — The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (09/2022)

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I am all that is here, I (2022)

Live Cello or Bb clarinet & stereo playback for stage performance

Collaboration with cellist Dr. William Raynovich.

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• Premiere: Maxwell Hall — Tuscaloosa, AL (09/2022)

• Chicago New Music, Impromptu Fest — Chicago, IL (09/16/2023)

• Susquehanna University — Selinsgrove, PA (09/2024)

• American University — Washington, D.C. (02/07/2025)

• Eastern Illinois University — Charleston, IL (01/15/2026)

• Constellation Arts Nightclub — Chicago, IL (02/01/2026)

• Illinois State University — Normal, IL (02/04/2026)

• Route 66 Arts Alliance — Edgewood, NM (02/13/2026)

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I was waiting to be found (2022)

Alto flute, Bb clarinet, stereo playback & multimedia installation

Collaboration with choreographer Dr. Fen Kennedy.

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• Maxwell Hall — Tuscaloosa, AL (09/2022)

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And here, we keep the most bright things (2022)

SATB choir

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• Premiere: Moody Music Building — Tuscaloosa, AL (03/2022)

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Beats per minute (2022)

Stereo playback & stage dance

Collaboration with choreographer George Berry.

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• Dance Collection — UA Department of Theatre & Dance, Tuscaloosa, AL (04/2022)

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I am all that is here, and I (2021)

 

Screendance, stereo-playback only.

 

• Shape Virtual Exhibition, Vinegar Art Collective, Birmingham, AL, 03/2022. 

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Dream State (2021)

Voice, ensemble & screendance

Collaboration with choreographer Kate Weske.

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• Premiere: Dance Alabama Film Festival — Tuscaloosa, AL (04/2021)

• American College Dance Association Screendance Gala Festival, Virtual (04/2022)

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Nothing Comfortable, Nothing Familiar (2020)

Voice & stereo playback, screendance

Collaboration with choreographer and filmmaker Derrick Williams.

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• Premiere: Department of Theatre and Dance virtual premiere. The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa AL, 11/2020. 

• Black Lives Rising Film Festival, New York NY, 12/2021.

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A Shadow of Familiar Sounds (2020)

Clarinet & stereo playback, screendance

Collaboration with choreographer and filmmaker Rebecca Salzer.

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• Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre — Tuscaloosa, AL (10/2020)

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Inquiry into the nature of the asphalt beneath my feet with lines lining things up. (2020)

Bb clarinet & electronics 

• Ravello Records (PARMA), 2023

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Just Breathe For a Minute (2020)

Electronic score for screendance 

Collaboration with choreographer and filmmaker Dr. Fen Kennedy.

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• Shape Virtual Exhibition, Vinegar Art Collective, Birmingham AL, 09/2020.

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The Energies of Woman (2020)

Electronic score for screendance

Collaboration with choreographer and filmmaker Heather Hunt.

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• Premiere: Dance Alabama Film Festival — The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (03/2020)

• Modco Dance Film Festival — Atlanta, GA (09/2020)

• Frame X Frame Dance Film Festival — Houston, TX (11/2020)

• Tide Talks — Tuscaloosa, AL (02/2021)

• Black Warrior Film Festival — Tuscaloosa, AL (03/2021)

• Lift-Off Film Festival — Los Angeles, CA (03/2021)

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When the Garden Floods (2019)

French horn, violin, flute, bass clarinet & vibraphone

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• UA Contemporary Ensemble — Tuscaloosa, AL (03/2019)

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The Caucasian Chalk Circle (2017)

Piano, clarinet, solo/duo/choral voices (music for Bertolt Brecht)

Collaboration with director Annie Levy and composer/performer Kilian Afzalirad.

• UA Department of Theatre & Dance — Tuscaloosa, AL (10/2017)

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Around the Bend (2016)

Percussion trio

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• UA Graduate Percussion Trio — Tuscaloosa, AL (11/2016)

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HONORS & GRANTS

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• Collaborative Arts Research Initiative Grant — University of Alabama (2025)

• Finalist — American Prize (Short Choral Works)

• Semi-Finalist — American Prize (Opera/Theater/Dance)

• First Prize — Robert Avalon International Composition Competition

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RECORDINGS

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Mind & Machine V (compilation album) — I am all that is here, I for Bb clarinet & electronics — Ravello Records (PARMA), 2023
And here, we keep the most bright things (Full solo album) — mixed ensemble, choir, electronics — 2022