Goings-on

Artists of the Great Marsh

I was selected to be a 2024-2025 Artist of the Great Marsh! I have been commissioned to compose an original work for ensemble and electronics inspired by the Great Marsh of Massachusetts. During the Summer and Fall of 2024 I have been out in the field (as seen above) making recordings of the marsh, which will form the basis of the composition, to be premiered in the Spring of 2025.

Supported in part by the Kathleen Van Demark Fund for Great Marsh Artists, a program of Artists for the Great Marsh and Manship Artists Residency.

Julius Eastman

Watch me frantically wave a stick in 360 degree fashion as I guide the Tufts Symphony Orchestra through my arrangement of Julius Eastman’s Gay Guerrilla.

Patterns in Stained Glass (2021)

The premiere performance of my piece Patterns in Stained Glass for solo piano, featuring the wonderful Jack Yarbrough.

About Declan

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Declan Siefkas is a composer, conductor, producer, and general audiophile hailing from the Midwest. His musical work is ecumenical in nature, ranging from experimental works for classical ensembles to background music for video games, and from conducting choir concerts to recording jazz combos. His compositions have been performed across the country and internationally.

Declan earned a B.A. in Music from Colorado College, where he founded and directed the Tenebrae New Music Ensemble, Colorado College's first student-run classical performance group. Declan earned an M.M. in Music Theory from New England Conservatory, where he studied cadence in the classical style and music in Legend of Zelda with Dr. Andrew Schartmann. His scholarly articles and book reviews have been published in The Journal of Dmitri Shostakovich (DSCH). After finishing school, Declan served as the assistant conductor for the orchestras of Tufts University, taking the orchestras on tour in Europe and helping to guide the orchestral program through the pandemic with a focus on anti-racist programming.

Declan is currently the Director of Music Technology at Phillips Academy Andover, where he also teaches digital music production and advanced music composition. He lives in Jamaica Plain with his wife, Anna, and enjoys spending his spare time cooking, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and working in video game music. He and Anna welcomed their son Vernon into the world in November.