Julia Alford is a composer, theorist/ethnomusicologist, educator, and accordionist.  Her music combines strains of texture, serialism and klezmer music with a firm commitment to melodic importance. It stems from spurts of improvisation that is often mixed with a series of numbers (each representing a given pitch, sometimes using 12, sometimes less, never more) that are rearranged over and over again.

She received her education at many fine institutions, the most recent being Temple University in Philadelphia, where she completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree under the mentorship of Matthew Greenbaum in the spring of 2013.  Her music has been performed in many exotic locales including Philadelphia, New York, Kansas City, Kalamazoo, Boca Raton, Aspen, and Piadena, Italy.

Dr. Alford teaches composition and theory and is the administrative assistant for the Department of Music Studies at Temple University, where she wrangles faculty, schedules, and students alike.  In her spare time she plays accordion and assists in tune writing in the American Gothic-esque, Northern Arms.

To read more about her process and influences, check out her interview on the Italian New Music Blog, Nomos Alpha.