about

Carolyn Yarnell is the recipient of some of the most prestigious honors in the arts, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Rome Prize, a Fulbright Fellowship, and dual Individual Artist Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in both Music Composition and Oil Painting. Her groundbreaking contributions have been recognized with the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, along with residencies at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Tanglewood among others.

An internationally acclaimed composer, visual artist, and writer, her work transcends traditional boundaries, uniting music, painting, and multimedia into deeply immersive artistic experiences. Renowned for her evocative and visionary voice, she explores profound themes of nature, spirituality, and the cosmos, crafting works that resonate on both intimate and universal scales.

A graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Yale University, Yarnell has created a body of work spanning large-scale orchestral, chamber, choral, and solo compositions, as well as electronic and ambient soundscapes. Her music -performed by leading ensembles and musicians across the United States, Europe, and Asia - reflects both a deep reverence for classical traditions and a fearless embrace of contemporary experimental innovation.

Beyond composition, Yarnell is a gifted visual artist and writer, often intertwining her paintings with her musical creations to produce strikingly synesthetic narratives. Her multidisciplinary practice invites audiences to experience the convergence of sound and sight in ways that are profoundly expressive and transformative.

With every project, Carolyn Yarnell continues to expand the possibilities of artistic expression, offering audiences profound meditations on the natural world and the human spirit. Her work stands as a testament to the power of creativity to inspire, challenge, and transform.