Andrew Ardizzoia (b. 1979) is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, where he began his studies in music at an early age. His music has been described as “exuberant, rhythmic, and great fun,” as well as “smart, intriguing, and masterful,” and has been performed on four continents by a wide variety of soloists and ensembles.
He is an affiliate composer of the American Composers Alliance, which publishes his music.
Recent performances include Ubi Caritas by Kayoko Dan and the Chattanooga Symphony, Sonatina for Violin and Piano with Allentown Symphony concertmaster Eliezer Gutman, and the premiere of his Divertimento by the wind ensemble at East Carolina University, led by Bill Staub. In 2022, he conducted his Stonewall Magnificats with the Heartland Marimba Ensemble on the closing concert of the Percussive Arts Society International Conference (PASIC) in Indianapolis.
Performances of Andrew’s orchestral transcription of Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque have taken place in Iowa, Arizona, Texas, and Missouri. He was a 2024 co-winner of the Manhattan Choral Ensemble’s “New Music for New York” competition for his setting of William Carlos Williams’s Approach of Winter, which was premiered at the DiMenna Center in early 2024.
Andrew’s works have been heard at many national and international conferences, including the College Band Directors National Association, the Keiko Abe Lucerne International Marimba Academy, the International Percussion Week (Stuttgart), the World Saxophone Congress, the North American Saxophone Alliance, and the International Horn Society. Additional performances have taken place at the University of California San Diego, The Ohio State University, the University of Oregon, as well as Idyllwild and Interlochen. Andrew’s incidental music for The Laramie Project has been part of productions in the U.S., Taiwan, and Singapore.
Andrew is Associate Professor of Music at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, where he also leads the Wind Ensemble. He holds a D.M.A. in composition from the Hartt School, the M.M. from Arizona State University, and B.M. from the University of the Pacific. His teachers have included Stephen Michael Gryč, Robert Carl, Rodney Rogers, James DeMars, Robert Coburn, and François Rose. He has participated in masterclasses with Christopher Theofanidis, Jennifer Higdon, Michael Torke, and Jonathan Newman, and studied conducting with Karla Lemon at the Scotia Festival of Music. His principal conducting teachers were Eric Hammer and Henrik Jul Hansen.
He is a member of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) and the Society of Pi Kappa Lambda.