(scroll down for 150 word + 200 word bio)
Molly Joyce is a composer and performer whose work explores disability as a creative source across composition, performance, collaboration, and research. Described by The Washington Post as “one of the most versatile, prolific and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome,” her music has also been praised by The New York Times for its “serene power” and by Vulture as “unwavering…enveloping.” Her forthcoming album State Change will be released July 11, 2025 via Better Company Records (North America) and FatCat Records’ 130701 imprint (rest of world). Using surgical records as musical lyrics, the album utilizes various adaptive music technology such as MUGIC, motion capture, Bela, and the KAiKU glove, and is produced by William Brittelle and engineered by Michael Hammond.
In 2024, she composed the original score for Patrice: The Movie, a documentary rom-com that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before streaming on Hulu. Her 2022 album, Perspective (New Amsterdam Records), features interviews with 47 disabled individuals reflecting on access, care, and identity. Praised by Pitchfork as “a powerful work of love and empathy” and by The Wire as “a powerful ongoing project… charged by an intense composer/performer relationship,” the project has evolved into six iterations, including installations, performances, and a public art exhibition with Kunstkommission Düsseldorf.
Her music has been presented and commissioned by leading institutions including Carnegie Hall, Invictus Games (Düsseldorf), SXSW EDU, TEDxMidAtlantic, Tang Teaching Museum, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Bang on a Can Marathon, Danspace Project,, National Sawdust, and Americans for the Arts. It has been featured in Pitchfork, Red Bull Radio, eBay, WNYC’s New Sounds, and I Care If You Listen.
Her orchestral and ensemble works have been performed by the Minnesota, New World, Vermont, Pittsburgh, Albany, and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras, Chicago Sinfonietta, Gränslandet Symfonisk Fest (Sweden), and youth ensembles including the New York Youth Symphony and Harvard Glee Club.
As a collaborator, Joyce has worked with media artist Andy Slater; visual artists Lex Brown, Alteronce Gumby, Leo Castaneda, Maya Smira, Julianne Swartz; choreographers Melissa Barak, Kelsey Connolly, Carlye Eckert,; and writers Marco Grosse, Christopher Oscar Peña, and Jacqueline Suskin. Notable collaborative works include Left and Right, an interdisciplinary performance with choreographer/dancer Jerron Herman, writer/audio describer Max Greyson, and director Austin Regan that examines historical myths of the left versus right side. The work has been presented by the UCLA Center for the Art of Performance, deSingel, and National Sawdust.
Joyce frequently performs on an electric vintage toy organ—an instrument she found on eBay that physically suits her body and conceptually embodies her engagement with disability in sound. Her debut album, Breaking and Entering (New Amsterdam Records, 2020), featuring toy organ, voice, and electronics, was described by New Sounds as “a powerful response to something… still too often stigmatized, but that Joyce has used as a creative prompt.” Her orchestrated songs by Christopher Theofanidis with the Albany Symphony, conducted by David Alan Miller, were described as “ethereal, eerie, magical” by The Daily Gazette.
Her debut EP, Lean Back and Release (2017), with violinists Monica Germino and Adrianna Mateo, was praised as “energetic, heady, and blisteringly emotive” by Paste Magazine and “arresting” by Textura. Her work also appears on over a dozen commercial albums, including collaborations with Vicky Chow, Nick Photinos, Bec Plexus, Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble, NakedEye Ensemble, Alistair Sung, Ralph Sorrentino, and others.
She is the recipient of ASCAP’s Leo Kaplan Award, grants from New Music USA, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Jerome Fund, and support from state and regional agencies. Residencies include AIR Krems, Bemis Center, Grace Farms, Headlands Center for the Arts, Embassy of Foreign Artists, The Watermill Center, and others.
She holds degrees from The Juilliard School (with scholastic distinction), the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (as a Frank Huntington Beebe Fund fellow), and Yale School of Music. She earned an Advanced Certificate and MA in Disability Studies from CUNY. She has taught at NYU, Wagner College, and Berklee Online, leading courses in Disability and the Arts, Music Technology, Music Theory, and Orchestration. Currently, she is a Dean’s Doctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia, focusing on Composition and Computer Technologies. Many of her projects are represented by INTERIM, a boutique management consortium led by Candace Feldman.
photo by Shervin Lainez
image description: Molly, a white female with brown hair in a bun, plays her vintage toy organ. She is wearing a black outfit and the photo is taken from her left side, with a yellow/orange glare over the organ.
photo by Maya Smira
image description: Project of a video with blue-sky background and two hands interacting against, with Molly performing in front of it and only face and vocal mic against the video are seen.
photo by Swatch Art Peace Hotel
image description: Molly, a white female with brown hair in a bun, plays her vintage toy organ. She is wearing a black outfit and the photo is taken from her front side.
photo by Nick Zoulek
image description: Molly, a white female with brown hair, plays her vintage toy organ and sings into a vocal mic. She is wearing a grey shirt and black pants and the photo is taken from below her.
150-word bio:
Molly Joyce has been deemed one of the “most versatile, prolific and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome” by The Washington Post. Her work is concerned with disability as a creative source. Molly’s creative projects have been presented and commissioned by Carnegie Hall, GM Europe, TEDxMidAtlantic, SXSW:EDU, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Bang on a Can Marathon, Danspace Project, Americans for the Arts, National Sawdust, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, National Gallery of Art, and in Pitchfork, Red Bull Radio, and WNYC’s New Sounds. She is a graduate of Juilliard, Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Yale, and alumnus of the YoungArts Foundation. She holds an Advanced Certificate and Master of Arts in Disability Studies from CUNY School of Professional Studies, and is a Dean’s Doctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia in Composition and Computer Technologies. For more information: www.mollyjoyce.com
200-word bio:
Molly Joyce is a composer and performer whose work explores disability creative source through music, performance, and research. Hailed by The Washington Post as a “versatile, prolific and intriguing composer,” she blends adaptive technologies like motion capture and the KAiKU glove in her compositions. Her upcoming album State Change (2025) uses surgical records as lyrics and she recently scored Patrice: The Movie, which premiered at TIFF and streamed on Hulu.
Joyce's 2022 album Perspective features interviews with 47 disabled individuals and has evolved into performances, installations, and public art. Her music has been presented by institutions like Carnegie Hall, SXSW: EDU, and the Hirshhorn Museum, and performed by orchestras such as the Minnesota and New World Symphony. She collaborates across disciplines with artists, choreographers, and writers, including Jerron Herman on the acclaimed piece Left and Right.
She often performs on a vintage toy organ, central to her exploration of disability and sound. A Juilliard and Yale graduate, Joyce holds an MA in Disability Studies and is a Dean’s Doctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia. Her work has earned major grants, awards, and residencies, and is represented by INTERIM.