composer, vocalist, storyteller

Artist Bio

Meg Huskin (b. 1995) is a composer and opera artist, whose work embraces theatricality, vocal lyricism, and genre-blending in order to tell modern stories. She draws on traditional forms, and recontextualizes them in her own musical and literary language. Through her artistic work, Meg aims to honor the experiences of ordinary people and everyday life, especially for those whose experiences are often forgotten about, including women, children, and other marginalized identites. She derives much of her ethos from her work as a teacher and teaching artist, as well as her training as a choral and opera singer.

Meg’s work has been performed with the LunART Festival - one of the country’s only festivals to feature work exclusively by self-identifying women - and Lynx Project’s Autism Advocacy series, a program which commissions songs using poems written by young people with autism. Meg’s work has also been featured in the Madison New Music Festival, and Chicago’s inaugural songSLAM competition, where she earned second prize for “Tikka Masala.” As a composer who works primarily with singers, she’s been praised for natural text-setting and her use of musical comedy. She aims to enliven the traditional concert going experience with songs about everyday people and scenarios, giving the performers a chance to stretch their acting chops. Oftentimes, Meg chooses to write her own texts for the songs she composes.
As a lifelong fan of opera theatre, Meg has been involved with numerous aspects of the theatre-making process. Her motto is “Just say yes.” Therefore, she’s had many experiences both on stage, and behind the scenes. She’s been assistant director and/or stage manager on productions of Turn of the Screen, Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi, and others across Madison, Chicago, and Baltimore. In 2023, she premiered two original works of opera theatre, including Rabbit Season (commissioned by the Peabody Opera Department as part of the Opera Etudes program). She also composed and performed in My Dearest Jane: a Jane Austen Cabaret, which premiered to a sold out theater at the Baltimore Theater Project. 

Meg earned a Master’s degree in music from the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin- Madison where she majored in music composition, voice performance, and creative writing. She has studied with composers Du Yun, Katherine Balch, and Gilda Lyons among others. She has participated in festivals such as New Music on the Point, The Walden Creative Musicans’ Retreat, the Wintergreen Composer’s Retreat and the From-Page-to-Stage Emerging Composers program. Her choral work “They Tore Down the Church” won the Mullins Sacred Music Prize in 2016.
Meg remains an active singer, and is currently employed as a regular choral singer at The Baltimore Basilica. As a writer, her articles have been published by I Care if You Listen.com and Lyric Opera of Chicago’s program books.

List of Works

Opera and Theater
  • Rabbit Season
    2023
    Peabody Institute, Baltimore, MD
    libretto by Sarah Perret-Goluboff (b. 1995)
    
  • My Dearest Jane: a Jane Austen Cabaret
    2023
    Baltimore Theater Project, Baltimore, MD
    text by Jane Austen (1775-1817)
    
  • For the Love of Loneliness, a scene
    2022
    Peabody Institute, Baltimore, MD
    text by the composer
    
  • The Dragon (score)
    2016
    Theater for Youth, Madison, WI
    play by Evgeny Shvartz (1896-1958)

Art Song
  • Submerged
    2021
    text by Lola Ridge (1873-1941)
    
  • We Went to Paris in Our Apartment
    2021
    text by the composer
    
  • Maddie and Dakotah
    2019
    text by Emily Friend
    commissioned by Lynx Project,
    Autism Advocacy Series
    
  • Three Poems by Nina
    2019
    text by Nina Szabo
    commissioned by Lynx Project,
    Autism Advocacy Series
    
  • Sunday Morning
    2019
    text by Darron Dives
    commissioned by Lynx Project, 
    Autism Advocacy Series
    
  • Tikka Masala
    2018
    text by the composer
    
  • The Singer from Wisconsin
    2020
    text by the composer
    
  • The Flea
    2017
    text by John Donne
Voice & Instrument
  • A Cloud's Tale, a musical storybook
    2023
    for soprano, mezzo-soprano, and organ
    
  • Chant for a Fried Egg
    2022
    for voice and koto
    
  • Etiquette for Ladies
    2019
    for soprano and percussion
    
  • Miles in Between
    2022
    for voice and harp
    
  • Coyote
    2018
    for soprano and flute
Chamber Music
  • throat.
    2023
    for string quartet
    
  • A Whetstone on a Dull Knife
    2022
    for bassoon, piano, violin, cello
    
  • Wheezie and Bear Save the Day
    2017
    for string quartet
    
  • The Moirae
    2017
    for string quartet

Choral
  • Oblivion
    2018
    text by the composer
    for SSAA choir
  • They Tore Down the Church
    2016
    text by the composer
    for SATB choir

Solo Piano
  • ecliptic, 2018
  • emote, 2017