Carolina Bragg finds inspiration in the strangest of places, from epic poems to tropical fauna. Her compositions frequently explore the convergence of music and the natural sciences, which she studies in depth as an Integrative Biology major.

Carolina received her first professional commission from the Friction Quartet as part of their Commissioning Initiative II. Her idea for this work sprang from a nature documentary about the birds-of-paradise. With their unique plumage and curious mating ritual, this species inspired her to write a string quartet that sampled audio clips of their birdcalls. Friction Quartet premiered this work on NPR’s From the Top.

Carolina is grateful to her teachers and mentors, who have included Eugene Kim, Paola Prestini, Alla Cohen, and Reena Esmail. In 2018 for Luna Composition Lab under Reena’s membership, Carolina wrote a piece for string quartet inspired by a passage from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, in which the epic’s tragic hero gazes on the newly formed Earth. Paradise Lost: This Pendant World was premiered at Roulette Intermedium and National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NY.

Set to texts by poet A.R. Ammons and written for soprano and alto voice, Carolina’s work “If Bees Are Few” tells a story of the home we all share in nature and the peril it faces. For this work, Carolina was named a Winner of the inaugural Tidal Shift Award at the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine. Carolina leads the cello section of the Bowdoin Symphony Orchestra and performs frequently in chamber ensembles. She has volunteered as a mentor for Clow’s Young Composers Club and Bravo Waukegan: Raise the Bar. In her free time, Carolina enjoys writing poetry; read her poem “Mortality Sources of 65 Canadian Lynx” published here in literary arts magazine The Quill.