Michael Gilbertson, a native of Dubuque, Iowa, currently studies at The Juilliard School and Columbia University. His notable teachers have included Samuel Adler, John Corigliano, Christopher Rouse, George Tsontakis, Robert X. Rodriguez, and Michel Merlet. Gilbertson’s works have been programmed by ensembles including The Juilliard Orchestra, the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Symphony, the Cedar Rapids Symphony, the Dubuque Symphony, the Flint Symphony, the Rockford Symphony, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, the Galesburg Symphony, and Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. His commissioned works have been premiered at many notable venues including the Klementinum in Prague and at Carnegie Hall in New York City.         

 Gilbertson’s music has earned wide recognition, receiving awards from ASCAP in 2006, 2007, and 2009, and a major scholarship from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts in 2006. In May, 2009, Michael was the youngest artist to be honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters where he was awarded a Charles Ives Scholarship. His recent orchestra work, titled Vigil, was named the recipient of the 2007-08 Palmer-Dixon Prize, awarded by the Juilliard composition faculty for the ‘most outstanding’ work composed by a student during the year. His music has been heard on WQXR’s Young Artists’ Showcase, and a 2006 performance of his Hodie by the Anderson University Orchestra and Chorus was televised nationally on PBS stations and internationally on EWTN. His music can be heard in the 2006 documentary Rehearsing a Dream, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Gilbertson’s orchestral pops works are published by Robert Wendel Music in New York. In addition to studies at Juilliard, Michael is also a student at Columbia University, where his areas of academic interest include Philosophy of History and Intellectual History.