Called “gloriously luminous” by The Philadelphia Inquirer, the music of Keith Fitch has been consistently noted for its eloquence, expressivity, dramatic sense of musical narrative, and unique sense of color and sonority. His works have been performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia by such ensembles as The Philadelphia Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and the Da Capo Chamber Players. His most recent orchestral work, Mirrors, commissioned by the Ellis-Beaureguard Foundation, was premiered in March 2025 by the Bangor Symphony Orchestra.
Among his many awards are a 2023 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the 2023 Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Composer Award, the Arts and Letters Award in Music and the Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Fromm Music Foundation Commission, three Individual Excellence Awards from the Ohio Arts Council, a Copland House Residency Award, and awards from ASCAP, the Indiana Arts Council, and the NEA. His music appears on Azica Records and Naxos Digital and is published by Non Sequitur Music and Edition Peters. Since 2008, he has served as the Vincent K. and Edith H. Smith Chair in Composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Prior to that appointment, he taught at Indiana University, Mannes College of Music, and Bard College.
At MacDowell in 2001, Fitch completed, To sleep, to dream, a piano quintet commissioned by Swathmore College for members of the Brentano Quartet. During his 2025 residency, he completed a first draft of a new work for seven players, supported by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
Portrait by Alex Cooke
