MUSE • Musicians United for Social Equity

Biography

AUTUMN MARIA REED is a Wisconsin-based composer/orchestrator/sound designer and Berklee alumna. Autumn has composed library and theatrical music for companies in Madison and Milwaukee. Her music is available to stream under the name “AMReed8.”

For theater, she composed and orchestrated for “BEYOND THE INGÉNUE: TRAILBLAZERS (2020)” and “AN AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY (2021)” with Music Theatre of Madison. She designed sound and composed additional music for “GHOSTS (2023)” by Are We Delicious? and the choreopoem “DA CLASSROOM AIN’T ENOUGH (2024)” by Charles Edward Payne. Currently, she is co-orchestrating “LIFE ON THE SPECTRUM (2023/2024)” by Lonnie McGuire. She also acted in Encore Studio for the Performing Arts’ “ROAD TRIP (2024)” by Kelsy Anne Schoenhaar.

As part of the 2023 MUSE Mentorship program, she was paired with Tony- and Grammy-nominated composer/orchestrator/music director Zane Mark (“BRING IN ‘DA NOISE, BRING IN ‘DA FUNK” and “BOOP! THE MUSICAL”).

Autumn’s orchestral works include “YANKADI (2022)” for string quartet at LunART Festival and “RESILIENCE (2023)” for string orchestra, performed by Brazil’s Orquestra Sinfônica Teatro Nacional Claudio Santoro (OSTNCS) with Maestro Cláudio Cohen. This composition won the calls for scores with the Women’s Orchestra of Arizona with Livia Gho and performed at Carthage College with Dr. Edward Kawakami.

Her “MENTAL HEALTH SUITE (2024)” was performed by River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO) with Maestra Mei-Ann Chen. Autumn was a composer awardee for Ravinia’s 2024 Breaking Barriers Festival, led by Maestra Marin Alsop and Augusta Read Thomas where Autumn’s composition, “ROBIN’S EYE VIEW (2024)” was conducted by Maestra Nefeli Chadouli with the Chicago Philharmonic.

She plays string bass and cello with Dayvin Hallmon’s The Black String Triage Ensemble and Black Diaspora Symphony Orchestra, where she composed “EXODUS FROM EXTINCTION (2022)” and “CRIES FROM OUR SOIL (2024)” with poet Brit Nicole, soprano Michaela Usher, and choral director Lee Stovall for the symphony orchestra. This group performs string music for trauma and violence victims. A documentary short titled “BLACK STRINGS (2023),” produced by filmmakers Marquise Mays and RJ Smith, features the ensemble. PBS distributes the film on its platform as “What Does It Look Like to Bring a Violin to a Gμnfight?” and YouTube channel, “When Musicians Become First Responders.”

She advocates ending the stigma of mental illness and values spending time with her family.

More info: linktr.ee/amreed8