Quezon City, Philippines
Kurt Bryan Naiga is an aspiring contemporary composer from the Philippines. He is currently a music composition student at the University of the Philippines Diliman under the tutelage of Mary Katherine Trangco, a member of the Philippine Choral Directors Association and Ba-Yi Women Composers, and Himig Sanghaya’s conductor. He also became a student of Josefino “Chino” Toledo, one of the Philippines’ finest composers and the current musical director and conductor of the University of the Philippines Symphony Orchestra. during his second-year studies. When he started his (formal) compositional journey in 2022, he leaned towards experimental styles in the likes of Schoenberg, Webern, Cage, among others. He now describes his style as a mix between contemporary and lyrical elements, which he'd like to refer to as "faux-tonal" or "fake tonal", as he strays away from both "pure" atonal and tonal styles. Furthermore, he likes to play around with rhythms and textures as an outlet for his musical expression. He cites Krzysztof Penderecki, Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen, and Toru Takemitsu as some of his influences. Aside from being a composer, he is also an electronic music producer.