Nancy Galbraith is Professor of Composition at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music. She is known worldwide for her works for symphony orchestras, choral ensembles, concert bands, chamber ensembles, and solo artists. Her music has earned praise for its rich harmonic texture, rhythmic vitality, emotional and spiritual depth, and wide range of expression.
Her symphonic works have been performed in the US, Latin America, and Europe, and are frequently performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, including premieres led by Gennady Rozhdetsvensky, Mariss Jansons, and Donald Runnicles.
Her chamber works have been performed by members of the New York Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and her works for concert bands are standard repertoire for ensembles around the world. Both her instrumental and choral compositions appear on numerous recordings, including seven anthologies.
Galbraith has produced a substantial body of major choral works, beginning with commissions from Robert Page and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh to compose Missa Mysteriorum and Requiem, a landmark achievement that was declared “a masterpiece” by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. These successes have led to commissions from the NEA, the Providence Singers, the Harvard Glee Club, the Pittsburgh Camerata, the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, and the Benedictine monks of St. Procopius Abbey near Chicago.
The composer is also an accomplished pianist and organist and has performed on several of the finest organs in the Pittsburgh area, including Heinz Chapel and Calvary Episcopal Church. She has also performed several times on the chapel organ at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. On several occasions, she has served as organist for the ELCA Western Pennsylvania Synod Assembly. In 1984, she succeeded her mother, Alverta Hoffman Riddle, as the organist at Christ Lutheran Church in Millvale, PA, where she also assumed the position of choir director. She has composed numerous sacred choral anthems and organ works for her church.
Nancy Galbraith is published by Subito Music in Verona, New Jersey.
Chorale Prelude, "Sing with all the Saints in Glory" to be performed Monday, June 20 at Foundry United Methodist Church.