Bold, programmatic music at the intersection of trans experience, systems, and voice.
Drew Swatosh (they/them, pronounced “SWAH-tahsh”) is a composer, vocalist, and arts administrator whose bold yet intentionally vulnerable work centers the human voice as a site of inquiry and belonging. Shaped by a background in arts-integrated education, Swatosh creates programmatic music as a way of processing the world through creativity, structure, and sound.
As an autistic and trans artist, Swatosh approaches music-making with unusual attentiveness to systems, ethics, and accessibility, bringing rigor and emotional resonance into productive balance. Described as “music of naked protest and yet subtle beauty” (Oregon ArtsWatch), their work engages themes of social justice, intersectional feminism, climate change, and grief, often holding collective responsibility alongside intimate, lived experience. Their operatic, choral, chamber, and vocal works advocate for transgender and non-binary singers, creating welcoming alternatives to historically gendered roles. Swatosh’s compositional practice is inseparable from their work as a singer; as an active performer of new music, they naturally integrate performer-centered insight, text sensitivity, and embodied listening into every score.
Swatosh’s commissions include the Seattle Opera Creation Lab (a trans/non-binary retelling of the myth of Icarus and Daedalus), choral educator Stephanie Bivins, the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics Music Department, Big Mouth Society, Fear No Music Young Composers Project, and vocalists Stephanie Lamprea, Marguerite McKean, and Carolyn Quick as part of the Dead Fires Anthology for solo voice. Their awards include Portland Symphonic Choir’s New Works Competition and first place in the Washington State Music Teachers Association Young Composers Project. Having received both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Contemporary Music from Western Oregon University, Swatosh has participated in masterclasses with Martin Bresnick, Dave Metzger, Chen Yi, Gabriel Prokofiev, and Lisa Neher.
As a vocalist, Swatosh sings with Portland Symphonic Choir, has worked under Conspirare Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, and made their professional debut with Persisting Sound. Swatosh is a co-founder of Raindrop New Music, a mutually supportive collective of gender-diverse composers in the Pacific Northwest, and leverages extensive experience in arts administration, one-on-one mentoring, and technology-forward creative support.
— Bio by Aligned Artistry