BIOGRAPHY

Adam Harrington (b. 2000) is an American composer writing narrative and descriptive music that is exciting, colorful, and expressive. Praised for his imaginative orchestration, strong melodic content, and vivid narrative structures, Harrington is always seeking to write music that is enjoyable by musicians and non-musicians alike. Visual and literary art play a key role in his work as many pieces are based on paintings, poetry, and narrative media like film and novels.

Harrington is the winner of NYC Orchestra Project’s 2026 Call for Scores with his work “Fireworks” to be performed on May 2nd, 2026. Additionally he was a finalist for the TUTTI Festival, chamber division with the Attacca Quartet for his work “Ghosts Before Breakfast”. In 2026 Harrington has upcoming premieres for DITHER, Hub New Music, NYU Contemporary Music Ensemble, Reagan High School Trombone Quartet, Sugar Land Winds, and a piece for clarinet and live electronics for Anthony Lopez. In 2025, Harrington was the winner of the Mostly Modern Festival’s orchestral competition with his work “Fireworks” given its premiere at the festival in June 2025. His work was praised for its sparkly and energetic orchestration. His work “Marvels in the Mountains”, also premiered at the Mostly Modern Festival by the FAB5 (string quartet and percussion) was commended for its programatic structure. In fall 2025 Harrington had premieres of “Excelsior”, for solo tuba, commissioned by Elihu Conant-Haque, and “In a Hollow Field” for percussion sextet by the NYU Percussion Ensemble. Harrington was the runner-up for NYU’s orchestral competition with the orchestral version of his work “Starry Night” and his wind band piece “Road to the Sun” was selected as the runner-up in the Austin Symphonic Band competition. Spring 2025 saw the premieres of “…All in a Hot and Copper Sky” with pianist Katherine Wenyi Xiong, “Sure on this Shining Night” with the Cypress Winds, “Ghosts Before Breakfast” for The Rhythm Method, and “Subway Story” for members of Contemporaneous.

Before his studies as a composer, Harrington studied music education, horn, and conducting at the University of Houston. He graduated with a B.M. in Horn Performance in 2022 after studying with Gavin Reed and Robert Johnson. He began composition study in his final year, studying with Rob Smith and Marcus Maroney. Harrington remains an active horn player in NYC and performs with the New Conductors Orchestra (NCO), Greenwich Village Orchestra (GVO), and NYU’s Contemporary Music Ensemble. He credits his time as a horn player as his main influence in composition as well as his love of Maurice Ravel, John Williams, Gustav Mahler, John Adams, and Hans Abrahamsen.

Harrington is in the second year of his M.M. in concert composition at NYU’s Steinhardt School and his principal teachers include Justin Dello Joio, Robert Honstein, Julia Wolfe, and Michael Gordon. In his free time Harrington is an avid sports fan, supporting teams from Houston and Seattle as well as Arsenal Football Club. He is also a lover of film and video games and credits both as having a great influence on him as a composer. He is also hoping to eventually finish visiting all US states (only some midwestern states remain) and national parks.