
RORY BRICCA
COMPOSER
Active Galactic Nuclei to be premiered by the Boston Pops on May 23-24
and the Brevard Music Center Orchestra on July 27
Rory Bricca (age 21) is a composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and French horn player from Tucson, AZ. After participating in the Tucson Symphony Orchestra’s Young Composers Project for five years, he is now pursuing a B.A. in Music at Yale University. He has composed five orchestral works, which have been performed by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Music Center Orchestra, Yale Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Unified School District Faculty Orchestra, and, in May 2025, the Boston Pops. He is committed to writing music that is both novel and accessible, and enjoys drawing inspiration from concepts in astronomy, psychology, neuroscience, and linguistics. This summer, he is attending the Bowdoin International Music Festival’s composition program to focus on his chamber music writing. He is also interested in studying music cognition, unlocking the secrets of how our minds process music.
Upcoming Performances
- April 18, 2025 - Premiere of Toccata Metrica at Yale New Music Collective Inaugural Concert
- May 9, 2025 - Premiere of Tunnel Vision at Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition
- May 23-24, 2025 - Boston Pops concert premiere of Active Galactic Nuclei in Music of the Cosmos concerts
- July 5, 2025 - Guinea Pigs in Bow Ties concert at Bowdoin International Music Festival
- July 11, 2025 - Hub New Music open reading/performance at Bowdoin International Music Festival
- July 27, 2025 - Brevard Music Center Orchestra performance of Active Galactic Nuclei in Soloists of Tomorrow concert
- July 31, 2025 - Museum Concert at Bowdoin International Music Festival
- Fall 2025 - Now Ensemble performance at Yale University
Praise
"It was so refreshing to hear a piece of new music where I found myself unconsciously humming the tune afterwards. Not only is it catchy, but it's well-conceived, well-structured, well-developed, evocative, quirky... I could go on and on." - Clancy Newman, winner of the International Naumburg Competition, on Duplicity
"I was completely entranced … I hadn’t imagined that music could capture the dynamic environment of a black hole so beautifully. … The graphics you connected to the musical themes were just right.” - Megan Urry, Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy and originator of the Unification Model for Active Galactic Nuclei
“I enjoyed it very much. It's pleasing to hear of another composer discovering "science music" and the rich possibilities for inspiration when disciplines collide. Your choice of animations, and the sharp edit points, made for a strong multisensory experience - black holes as harbingers of cosmic destruction.” - David Ibbett, composer of Black Hole Symphony and Resident Composer at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics