About
Bold, dramatic, with an exquisite attention to detail, Ethan Soledad (b. 1999) is a Filipino-American composer whose work aims to express emotions in their most raw form. An experienced singer, he incorporates drama in his work, emphasizing the importance of silence and one’s perception of time. Ethan’s music draws from a wide palette of compositional styles and colors ranging from impressionism and neoclassicism to post-minimalism and the avant-garde. His musical style is marked by unapologetic expression, dynamic extremes, and the ability to do more with less but never shying away from doing more with more.
Festivals and programs attended include Impulse New Music Festival, the Premiere| Project Festival by Choral Arts Initiative, the TUTTI Festival at Denison University, the Etchings Festival, Charlotte New Music Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival Composer Symposium, zFest, and the Curtis Institute's Young Artist Summer Program.
His music has been performed and recognized by ensembles such as New York Youth Symphony (First Music Commission Honorable Mention), the Greater Miami Youth Symphony, Choral Arts Initiative, Fifth House Ensemble, Bent Frequency, the East Coast Contemporary Ensemble (ECCE), Fear No Music, Crossing Borders Music, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, The Choral Project, the Beo String Quartet, and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York.
He is a teacher at the Shepherd School of Music pre-college program, teaching music theory, composition, and aural skills to advanced high school students. Additionally he is a young artist at DACAMERA Houston, engaging in outreach programs with Harris county elementary schools.
He graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in Music at Florida State University 2021 and is currently pursuing his Master of Music in Composition at Rice University studying under Shih-Hui Chen and Karim Al-Zand.
His previous composition teachers include Liliya Ugay and Orlando Jacinto Garcia.
“You're so small, but your music is so big.” - Audience member on "When I Rise Up"
“Terrifying.” - the Beo String Quartet on "Vitriol"
“You have the drive and will to succeed you are powerful and unstoppable you will prevail your music will be heard throughout the lands throughout the nations for generations and years to come.” - Catherine Magarino, muse
“Simple, incompetent, ignoramus, unimpressive, blasé, boring, redundant, seen it before, copied, trite, bland, afraid to stand out, conforms to the norm, put it in the oven, plant it in a garden, drink it, hold it in.”
— Catherine Magarino, performer of song cycle, "Songs of Love and Death"
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