Karl Boelter, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1952, studied composition at Ball State University and at the University of Michigan, receiving his doctorate in Ann Arbor in 1981. His instructors have included William Albright, Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, David Foley and Eugene Kurtz. He has taught at Auburn University at Montgomery, the University of Michigan, Kennesaw State College, and currently Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Between 1985 and 1991, he resided in Atlanta where he also served as Performing Arts Coordinator for the High Museum of Art presenting concerts and performances in conjunction with major exhibitions.

Boelter’s awards include a fellowhip from the MacDowell Colony, a performance in Carnegie Recital Hall under the auspices of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM), and grants from BMI, ASCAP, the University of Michigan, the Michigan State Arts Council, the Georgia Council for the Arts, et al. He is frequently commissioned for new works, many of which demonstrate his interest in working across artistic disciplines.

His music has been selected for festivals throughout the United States, as well as in Graz, Austria and Varese, Italy. Recent commissions and/or performances have included the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, the Lanier Trio, Meadow Brook Theatre and the Atlanta Symphony. A CD of his chamber music performed by Atlanta-based Thamyris is available on the ACA Digital Label.