Mischa Zupko

      Celebrated for compositions that are emotionally-charged and viscerally-engaging, composer Mischa Zupko excites both musicians and audiences.  Zupko’s piano concerto, “Fahrenheit”, was declared “a powerhouse of the evening” by the Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein and “harrowing and gripping” by Classical Voice North America. In a review of his new release “Eclipse,” Bob O’Neil of Positive Feedback wrote, “Zupko's chamber music leaves me uncharacteristically speechless.… This music appears to have no specific roots, doesn't seem to derive from any other composer. It simply asserts itself with force and eloquence.” Zupko has also received favorable reviews from New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini and the Los Angeles Times and has been featured in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Reader for his significant compositional activity in Chicago’s new music scene.    Zupko has been a featured guest on David Osenberg’s weekly radio program, “Cadenza” (WWFM).

      Zupko’s works have been championed, commissioned, and premiered by leading United States orchestras and chamber groups, including the Grant Park Symphony and Chorus, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, the New York Youth Symphony, the Civitas Ensemble, the Western Brass Quintet, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, American Modern Ensemble, Camerata Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the St. Olaf Band, Eighth Blackbird, Corigliano Quartet, and Lincoln Trio.   He has worked with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and members of the Kronos, Vermeer, and Pacifica Quartets.   Other significant commissions have come from the Fromm Foundation, the Barlow Endowment, and the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival.   Performances of Zupko’s works have been featured at Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Merkin Hall, and Ravinia.   He has served as Composer-in-Residence with the Fulcrum Point New Music Project and is engaged to serve in the same capacity with Fermilab, America’s particle physics and accelerator lab.

     Zupko’s numerous awards include 1st place in the Pacific Symphony’s Orchestra's American Composer's Festival, three ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Awards, including the first prize Kaplan Award, the “First Music” award from the New York Youth Symphony, the Jacob Druckman prize from the Aspen Music Festival; and finalist in the Rome Prize Competition. 

     Recordings of his works are available on Cedille Records, Crystal Records, Innova, American Modern Recordings, and ENF.   
Mr. Zupko is also on the faculty at DePaul University School of Music.