composer-IN-RESIDENCE
June 10-24, 2026
Rachel Epperly
Rachel Epperly is a composer-performer, improviser, and performance artist active in the US and South Korea. Rachel’s music spans classical, electronic, ambient, and experimental pop. Her work incorporates several mediums such as notated music, improvisation, performance art, theater, and text. While her primary focus as a performer is experimental voice, she is also a classically-trained pianist and an accordionist. Cultural studies is at the center of Rachel’s work; she uses performance to embody and imagine liberation from cultural norms related to capitalism, gender, and the climate crisis.
Rachel holds an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, and a BM in Music Composition from the University of Michigan with highest honors. Rachel is a recipient of a US Fulbright Research Grant in Composition in Seoul, South Korea, during which she studied pansori performance and composition. Rachel has completed residencies with Gabriela Lena Frank Academy of Music, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Art Omi:Music. Recent projects include a narrative album I AM A PUMPJACK, commissioned by the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music; an original solo opera SPIDERLILY, performed and composed by herself; and a suit of armor made from 20,000 recycled soda can tabs.ion education with sound design.