about

Kyle Brenn (he/him) is a New York-based multi-disciplinary music and theater artist. His work blends styles and tells stories, often focused on coming-of-age, tight spaces, nature, and worldbuilding.

This year he is a member of Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, for which his new 20-minute chamber opera with libretto by Lex Brown will premiere at the Kennedy Center in January 2025. He’s had work performed at Carnegie Hall, the Bang on a Can Marathon, MASS MoCA, New England Conservatory, Princeton University, and Dallas Contemporary, among others, and his music has been commissioned and/or performed by numerous contemporary music groups including Bergamot Quartet, Verdigris Ensemble, TACETi Ensemble, and Ensemble Connect. He has scored several short films, most recently Thaw by frequent collaborator Alex Bush, which was a 2023 Tribeca Festival official selection. He holds a B.M. in Music Composition from NYU, where he studied with Michael Gordon.

His passion project for the past six years has been a large-scale experimental musical play called the shape of a child— it’s existed in numerous forms, including a 2021 self-produced workshop, culminating in its upcoming release as a concept album on Cantaloupe Music in November 2024. It’s a story about a mother and son on the shore, and a boy lost at sea, all trying to grow up together and apart. 

As an arranger, orchestrator, and music director for theater, he has worked on here i fall up (New Ohio ICE Factory), Lottie and the Deep Blue Sea (Ars Nova ANT Fest, PRISM Festival), both by Beth Golison, and Picking Up Speed by Alex Wyse/prod. Cody Lassen. He also helped develop and tour three-time Tony nominee Robin de Jésus’ most recent cabaret act. His primary instruments are drums and piano—his playing can be heard on releases by Amelia Murray and miamiamia.

He works for 7th Avenue Music Service as a music copyist, and formerly spent time at JoAnn Kane Music and Music Theatre International. In that capacity he’s worked closely alongside Jeanine Tesori on her newest opera Grounded at the Kennedy Center and The Metropolitan Opera, as well as Kimberly Akimbo (Broadway, Atlantic Theater), The Notebook (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Cornelia Street (Atlantic Theater), 1776 (A.R.T.), Ragtime in Concert, and numerous others.

Kyle first encountered theater as a child actor, highlights including West Side Story (2009 revival) and Leap of Faith on Broadway, and Live from Lincoln Center’s national broadcast of Sweeney Todd, where he played Tobias alongside Emma Thompson and the New York Philharmonic. He still performs as an actor/singer occasionally.