The recipient of a 2010 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Travis Alford (b. 1983) is a composer, trumpet player, and improviser in the Boston area. Growing up in Spring Hope, NC, he began playing the trumpet at the age of 11 in school concert and jazz bands, community groups, and in church. In college he discovered he was much better at composing than playing the trumpet (though he still tries). His compositions have been performed at venues across the United States and beyond including the June in Buffalo Festival, the ACA Summer Music Festival at Symphony Space in NY, the Composers Conference at Wellesley College, the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice, the Exploring Trumpet International Seminar in Kalavrita, Greece, the NewMusic@ECU Festival, and New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, by groups such as the Meridian Arts Ensemble, the Lydian String Quartet, Second Instrumental Unit, and members of the New York New Music Ensemble.
Travis holds degrees in theory and composition from the New England Conservatory and East Carolina University, and is currently working toward a PhD. in composition at Brandeis University. Travis has studied composition with Eric Chasalow, David Rakowski, Lee Hyla, Edward Jacobs, Mark Richardson, and Mark Taggart. He has studied trumpet formally with Britton Theurer, and informally with Brian McWhorter and Jon Nelson. He has also studied Contemporary Improvisation with Tanya Kalmanovitch.
Travis resides in Watertown, MA with his lovely wife, Lauren.