cindy mctee
biographical summary
Hailed by the Houston Chronicle as a composer whose music reflects a “charging, churning celebration of the musical and cultural energy of modern-day America,” Cindy McTee (b. 1953 in Tacoma, WA) “brings to the world of concert music a fresh and imaginative voice.”
The Washington Post likewise characterized her work as “unmistakably American-sounding, [composed with] … craftsmanship and a catholic array of influences across several centuries.” “There’s also a polished gleam about her colors,” according to the Detroit Free Press, as well as “an inventive approach to form and a respect for tradition.”
Cindy McTee has received numerous awards for her music, most notably a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Fellowship, a Composers Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, two awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Music Alive Award from Meet the Composer and the League of American Orchestras, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's third annual Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Award, and a BMI Student Composers Award. She also won the 2001 Louisville Orchestra Composition Competition.
The works of Cindy McTee have been performed by leading ensembles in major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall on five separate occasions. Among the many ensembles that have played her music are the Baltimore, Bern, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Finnish Radio, National, NHK (Tokyo), Pittsburgh, RTÉ National (Dublin), RTVE (Madrid), Shanghai, Sidney, St. Louis, Tokyo Metropolitan, and Toronto symphony orchestras; Buffalo and London philharmonic orchestras; Cleveland, Louisville, and Philadelphia orchestras; Houston and Seattle symphonies; Lone Star Wind Orchestra; Los Angeles, Moscow, and New York (scheduled for March, 2025) philharmonics; Orchestre National de Lyon; and United States Marine, Army Field, Coast Guard, and Navy bands.
Cindy McTee enjoyed a 30-year teaching career alongside her work as a composer—three years at Pacific Lutheran University and 27 years at the University of North Texas, where she retired as Regents Professor Emerita in 2011. Later that year, she married conductor Leonard Slatkin. Their primary residence is in Saint Louis, Missouri.
(Updated 3.11.25)