Northern Vibrations

Reflecting on the time he spent working in artistic isolation as a court musician for Hungary’s Esterházy family, Joseph Haydn once remarked: “I was cut off from the world. There was no one to confuse or torment me, and I was forced to become original.” In many ways, the same is true for award-winning composer and Eleanor Shea Professor of Music, Matthew Burtner. Born and raised in Alaska, Burtner knows what it means to live remotely. Growing up in Nuiqsut, an Arctic city accessible only by airplane or ice road, he spent much of his young life helping his family prepare adequate food, heat, and clothing.