Dr. Anthony Donofrio's headshot

Dr. Anthony Donofrio

Department Chair, Professor of Music, Composition & Theory
donofrioaj@unk.edu
(308) 865-8632
FAB 245
Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance
Research focus areas: Music Composition. I compose original music, collaborate with performers, and investigate ways of expressing concepts such as time (pacing/form/structure/etc.), pitch space (frequencies, timbres, etc.), and rhythm (durations of sound).

Areas of Expertise

  • Graduate Faculty
  • Music
  • Music Composition

Education

Ph.D., University of Iowa (2011)

M.A., Kent State University (2007)

M.M., Kent State University (2005)

B.M., Kent State University (2003)

Biography

The music of composer/performer Anthony Donofrio questions the ideas of linearity, subjectivity, and formal structure. Fascinated with how music intersects with all fields of creativity – especially literature, film, and painting – Anthony’s music is introspective, patient, fragile, and conflicted.

Their work has been featured on numerous festivals, conferences, and symposiums, including the Klangraum Festival, Darmstadt Summer Courses, the Prague Quiet Music Festival, SPLICE Festival, the World Saxophone Congress, SEAMUS National Conference, the Bowling Green State University New Music Festival, the Deep Listening Institute Conference, and others.

Anthony has received commissions from the Prague Quiet Music Collective, Mainly Slow Organ Series, MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music, the Western Illinois New Music Festival, Music Teachers National Association, and from soloists and ensembles such as soprano Liz Pearse, pianists Ashlee Mack, Amy O’Dell, and Stacey Barelos, percussionist Aaron Michael Butler, harpist Ben Melsky, double bassist James Ilgenfritz, and clarinet/piano duo Duo Per Se. National and international performances include the International Contemporary Ensemble, the S.E.M. Ensemble, Longleash Piano Trio, Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, and Duo Harpwerk, among others.

Specializing in concert-length works, Anthony’s catalog includes chamber pieces, tiny miniatures, works for instruments with electronics (both live and fixed media), and large ensemble works for orchestra and concert band. These works can be heard on Sawyer Editions, Neuma Records, Centaur Records, and August Two Editions. Anthony’s concert-length work for vibraphone, These Calm Words, was released on Edition Wandelweiser Records in late 2023.

Anthony’s research focuses on interdisciplinary applications in composition pedagogy. Their work on applying non-linear literately structures to composition has been formally presented at the new music festivals of the University of Tennessee, University of South Florida, and Western Illinois University. This research was also presented as a workshop for the SOUNDRY courses of the Omaha Under the Radar Festival. Additionally, Anthony contributed the liner notes for James Romig’s The Complexity of Distance, released in 2022 on New World Records.

In 2025, Anthony was the recipient of the UNK Pratt-Heins Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity.

For more information, visit www.donofrio-music.com.

Music Faculty Research Directory