Described as “superb” by The Washington Post, MARTIN KENNEDY’s music has been performed worldwide by leading ensembles including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Teatro Comunale di Bologna, South Dakota Symphony, Baton Rouge Symphony, Wisconsin Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Symphony in C, Omaha Symphony, and the Alabama Symphony, where he served as Composer-In-Residence.

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His honors include the ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Prize, the ‘2 Agosto’ International Composition Prize, five ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, the BMI Student Composer Award, the Suzanne and Lee Ettleson Prize, and fellowships at the MacDowell and Yaddo artist colonies. He is also a two-time recipient of Indiana University’s Dean’s Prize in Composition.

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Kennedy has received commissions from acclaimed artists such as countertenor Ryland Angel, Parthenia Viol Consort, Soheil Nasseri, Kate Prestia-Schaub, The Trombones of the St. Louis Symphony, and violinist Lara St. John, with whom he has maintained a long-standing collaboration as both composer and pianist.

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Kennedy holds a Master’s degree in Composition from the Jacobs School of Music, where he also earned dual Bachelor’s degrees in Composition and Piano Performance. He later completed his Doctor of Musical Arts at The Juilliard School as a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow, studying with renowned composers including Samuel Adler, Milton Babbitt, Claude Baker, David Dzubay, and Don Freund.

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An accomplished pianist and collaborator, Kennedy performs internationally and has toured with violinist Lara St. John and flutist Thomas Robertello—both frequent collaborators for whom he has also composed and recorded. Dedicated to contemporary music, he has premiered numerous works as a soloist and with ensembles such as the Indiana University New Music Ensemble, New Juilliard Ensemble, and the St. Louis Symphony's Pulitzer New Music Concerts.

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His music is published by Theodore Presser Company and G. Schirmer Inc.