IAN LESTER
A native Michigander, IAN LESTER is an award-winning composer, euphonium player, and teacher currently pursuing his Doctorate degree in euphonium performance and Master’s degree in composition at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Ian received his Bachelor’s degree in euphonium performance and pursued additional composition studies with Ben Fuhrman and Terry Herald at Oakland University in Rochester, MI.
Ian's works have been performed by performers such as the North Texas Euphonium Quartet, In Motus Tuba Quartet, Steve Darling, Louis Setzer, Jonathan W. Voth, Irving Ray, Richard Demy, Thomas Stein, Don-Paul Kahl, the Julius Quartet, the SPLICE ensemble, the Factory Seconds Brass Trio, the Conviviality Trio, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Oakland University, and IUP Tuba/Euphonium ensembles, the Chimera Contemporary ensemble, Tubas Ignis, and the Oakland University Brass Band and Wind Symphony in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Fort Myer, and numerous universities, conferences, and recital halls in several countries. In December of 2016, Ian’s composition Sonata for Tuba “Hades God of the Underworld” won the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" Tuba-Euphonium Composition Competition where the version for contrabass tuba received its world premiere at the 2017 Army Band Tuba-Euphonium Conference in Arlington, Virginia. The bass tuba version of "Hades" was premiered by Steve Darling in October of 2017 and can be heard on his CD "Dualities". That same year, Ian received Oakland University's Outstanding Student in Composition award.
In June of 2018, Ian was named the winner of the highly competitive inaugural North Texas Euphonium Quartet Composition Competition with his piece "Reminiscence and Death Machine" which can be heard on their CD "Machines". In 2020, two of Ian's works, “INTO THE MADHOUSE” for solo tuba and “Reflect, Refract” for solo euphonium, were selected as honorable mentions for the inaugural Leonard Falcone Call for Solo Works. In 2021, Ian won the Mirari Brass Quintet Call for Scores with his work “Three Episodes for Brass Quintet”. That same year, Ian was one of ten composers accepted into the Julius Quartet’s EMERGE SOLSTICE summer workshop, where Ian worked with the world-renowned Julius String Quartet and Grammy Award-winning composer Steven Mackey. Most recently, Ian was named the winner of the 2022 UMKC Composition Competition with his work “Mental Pendulum” written for and premiered by the Factory Seconds Brass Trio.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Coming Soon
SELECTED MEDIA
Neon Dream (2021)
Irving Ray, euphonium