Biography
Medium-length
Praised for “astonishingly beautiful” music (The New York Times) and a “singular compositional voice, unlike any that has been heard in opera before” (The New Yorker), composer Gregory Spears is acclaimed for his distinctive blend of romanticism, minimalism, and early music influences, which seeks to collapse layers of history into one moment, our own. His works – spanning opera, orchestral, chamber, and vocal music – are celebrated for their melodic richness, emotional clarity, and sensitivity to text.
Spears has been commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Seraphic Fire, The Crossing, Bang on a Can, Volti, BMI/Concert Artists Guild, Vocal Arts DC, New York Polyphony, The New York International Piano Competition, JACK Quartet, and the New York Youth Symphony, among many others.
The 2025-2026 season brings three major world premieres. Opera Philadelphia presents Spears’ newest opera,Sleepers Awake, inspired by the writings of modernist Swiss author Robert Walser and other literary sources; The Frick Collection presents Secrets for early and modern instruments; and Tucson Desert Song Festival unveils Bartleby, a song cycle based on Herman Melville’s short story, written for Jennifer Johnson Cano and Christopher Cano. His A New Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei (2013), an alternate completion of Mozart’s Requiem, will be performed by the Columbus Symphony and Chorus as well as by the New York Choral Society at Alice Tully Hall.
Spears’ best-known opera, Fellow Travelers (libretto by Greg Pierce), is celebrated as a modern classic. Its 2016 Cincinnati Opera premiere was praised as “one of the most accomplished new operas I have seen in recent years” (Chicago Tribune) and “an opera that seems assured of lasting appeal” (The New York Times).Since then, it has been produced across the U.S. and abroad, including at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Boston Lyric Opera, Minnesota Opera, Arizona Opera, and London’s University College Opera. 2026 marks its tenth anniversary with the launch of a national, multi-year tour.
Spears’ opera The Righteous, with a libretto by former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, premiered at Santa Fe Opera in 2024 to critical acclaim, earning a “Critic’s Pick” in The New York Times and was shortlisted for an International Opera Award. Earlier collaborations with Smith include Castor and Patience (2022, Cincinnati Opera), praised byThe New York Times for “outpourings so fervent, the melodies so sweet, that you can find yourself moved nearly to tears,” and Love Story, commissioned and premiered by the New York Philharmonic. His first opera, Paul’s Case (with librettist Kathryn Walat), was called “a masterpiece” by The New York Observer and has been staged by Urban Arias, Prototype Festival, and Pittsburgh Opera. His recorded catalog includes Requiem (New Amsterdam Records),Seven Days(Bright Shiny Things),The Tower and the Garden (Parma), Paul’s Case(National Sawdust/American Modern Recordings), and Fellow Travelers (FanfareCincinnati). He composed the soundtrack for Kit Monkman’s feature film Macbeth, scored for mostly 18th-century instruments.
Spears is the recipient of numerous honors, including residencies from Yaddo, MacDowell, and the Copland House, and awards from BMI and ASCAP. He is a former Fulbright Scholar, a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and Yale School of Music, and earned a PhD in composition from Princeton University.
Spears teaches at New York University, and his music is published by Schott Music and Schott PSNY.