Skip to page content

Kathryn Bostic

composer

About this Artist

Kathryn Bostic is an Emmy-nominated and award-winning composer and artist. In addition to her composing credits on critically acclaimed films, TV, theater, and symphony concert music, she is the recipient of numerous fellowships and other accolades. She was recently Emmy-nominated for her heartfelt score on the film Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir. Bostic was also Emmy-nominated for her score to the award-winning film Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. Her original song “High Above the Water” was Oscar shortlisted in 2020.     

In 2016, she became the first female African-American composer to become a member of the Music Branch on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. She has written for Broadway, most notably collaborating with the iconic playwright August Wilson on The Gem of the Ocean and several productions of his last play, Radio Golf. Prominent orchestras have taken note of Kathryn Bostic’s talents, earning her commissions to create concert works for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Bangor Symphony Orchestra, and Chicago Sinfonietta, where she was recently chosen as their first artist-in-residence. Her piece “The Great Migration— A Symphony in Celebration of August Wilson” had its premiere in 2019 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

As a vocalist, she has toured and recorded with many celebrated artists including Nas, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and David Byrne.