Twin Cities-based composer and harpist Amy Nam (née Thompson) writes and performs music out of a desire to nourish her own sense of curiosity, as well as that of her listeners. Her musical output responds to the personal discoveries she makes from allowing her mind to roam laterally in undirected exploration of the world.
In 2020, the Rochester, NY-based ensemble fivebyfive commissioned Nam’s work …of breath and fire through the support of Chamber Music America’s Classical Commissioning program. Currently Nam is completing a series of residencies with fivebyfive to perform this work around New York State.
Recently, the American Composers Orchestra selected Nam’s work Mimi’s Song for their June 2023 EarShot Readings in New York City. Nam has received awards from the BMI Foundation, the Eastman School of Music, and the Lyra Society, among others, and her music has been performed and workshopped by ensembles including the Pacific Chamber Orchestra, M5 Mexican Brass, and the Tennessee Valley Music Festival Orchestra.
Also active as a harpist, Nam is on performance faculty at Luther College in Decorah, IA. She has appeared as a soloist with the Vanderbilt University Orchestra, when she won the university-wide concerto competition as a first-year student, and the McGill Contemporary Ensemble.
Nam holds degrees from Vanderbilt University, where she graduated with first honors as the Blair School of Music’s Founder’s Medalist, McGill University, where she studied harp with Jennifer Swartz and composition with John Rea, and the Eastman School of Music, where she studied composition with David Liptak, Robert Morris, and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. www.amynam.com