Brandon Hilfer (he/him) is a New York based composer and sound designer. He writes music for both concert and theatrical settings, and is particularly interested in exploring the intersections between the human voice and instrumental composition palettes.

Brandon’s music has been performed at Scholes Street Studio, University Settlement, The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, Provincetown Playhouse, The Whitney Center for the Arts, I/O New Music Festival, and Williams Opera Workshop. His compositions have received performances and readings by BlackBox Ensemble, The Rhythm Method, The NYU Contemporary Music Ensemble, Roomful of Teeth, Nunc, and Dover String Quartet, among other ensembles.

In December 2024, The Washington Heights Community Choir premiered Evening: New York, a choir work set to a poem by Sara Teasdale. kon.trip premiered cityscape, for saxophone, vibraphone, and double bass, in April 2024. Endings and Beginnings and Passage, two companion song cycles, premiered in May 2023 on an evening-length program of Brandon’s compositions. Amethyst Dreams, a dance piece created in collaboration with choreographer Morgan Griffin, has been staged on multiple occasions, including in a video iteration. Brandon’s theatrical works include his chamber opera Actaeon, or the hunter and the musical The Sanguinary Revenge of a Hitman’s Daughter, a collaboration with writer Jack Romans. Brandon has also sound designed for over a dozen plays.

Upcoming projects include various chamber pieces and a collection of electronic music.

Brandon earned his M.M. in Music Theory and Composition from NYU Steinhardt. Composition mentors at NYU included Molly Joyce, Herschel Garfein, Shelley Washington, Julia Wolfe, and Robert Honstein. He is a graduate of Williams College, where he earned a B.A. in Music (with Highest Honors) and Political Science, and studied composition with Zachary Wadsworth. At Williams, he was the recipient of the Robert G. Barrow Memorial Prize in Music Composition and the Ruth Scott Sanford Memorial Prize in Theatre.

By day, Brandon works as an arts administrator.