TRISTAN McGEHEE (they/them, b. 1999) is an award-winning composer (including the Eugene and Mary Mingle Scholarship, the Morton and Elizabeth Green Award, and the 2022 George Lawner Prize), conductor, theorist, and violinist from Kansas City, Kansas. In 2023, they graduated with a double-major Bachelor of Music in both Music Composition and Music Theory from the University of Kansas. Two years later, they graduated from the University of Kansas with a Master of Music in Music Composition. Though McGehee is a multifaceted-musician, they are known mostly for their work in the orchestral world as a composer and conductor.

Tristan McGehee’s compositional voice has been described as eclectic, with works reflecting a wide range of influences that combines aspects from thundering bluegrass and heavy metal rock bands, to Romantic-Era orchestral masterworks and film music. Their work has stretched across several musical genres, including solo instrumental, chamber, symphonic, wind ensemble, and vocal music. While at KU, McGehee studied composition and orchestration Dr. Ingrid Stölzel, and film music and counterpoint with Dr. Scott Murphy. McGehee’s extensive theoretical study of film scores provides them with an intimate familiarity with the cinematic vocabulary of vast proportions, extended harmonies, and emotional climaxes. McGehee’s far-reaching impact has included concert music as well as music for the stage (ballet) and screen (films and video games). Their most-streamed works include their film scores (Zach Boehm’s UNKNOWN and Liam Maze’s How Individualism is Killing Americans) and works for symphonic orchestra (such as dispersion of light, winner of the 2022 George Lawner Prize). McGehee’s work as a conductor also helps to serve their own music, as they prefer to conduct their own works in order to best make immediate adjustments during rehearsals. McGehee’s leadership in the new music world can be seen in their contribution as both vice president and president of the Kansas New Music Guild.

McGehee’s primary means of performance is their work as a conductor. During their undergraduate studies, McGehee founded the Bluestem Chamber Orchestra, a student organization at KU and served as its music director and chief conductor. There, performances included both standard works (such as Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite and Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings) and world premieres of new music (including Wes Unruh’s frost that lingers in springtime and McGehee’s own bluestem pastures). During their time in their undergraduate studies, the KU School of Music’s then Music Director Dr. Carolyn Watson allowed McGehee to attend their conducting studio seminars as well as lead a rehearsal of Dmitri Kabelevsky’s Overture to Colas Breugnon with the KU Symphony Orchestra. Most recently in April 2025, McGehee conducted their masters recital, consisting entirely of chamber orchestral music, featuring two vocal soloists. McGehee’s primary instrument is the violin, though they also perform on viola, cello, bass (upright and guitar), and piano. Their performance experience has included extensive experience in chamber music (first violinist, Vertigo String Quartet [VSQ]) and orchestral music (concertmaster, KU University Orchestra). The VSQ regularly premiered new works by living composers, and workshopped music with artists such as the New York Philharmonic String Quartet, the Tesla String Quartet, and the Morgenstern Trio. In addition to both composer and performer, McGehee also has work in the field of music theory research. For their undergraduate Theory degree, McGehee’s thesis work focused on finding a way of quantifying certain orchestral techniques. Their thesis paper (“The Orchestral Realm of Jennifer Higdon: A Study in Visualizing Orchestration as it Relates to Dynamic Shaping and Form”) examined their tone-color-chart system as it applied to the orchestral music of American composer Jennifer Higdon.

Tristan McGehee recently graduated in May 2025 with a M.M. Composition from the University of Kansas with thanks to their Graduate Advisory Committee, made up of Dr. Ingrid Stölzel, Dr. Scott Murphy, and Dr. Martin Nedbal after a successful defense of their thesis composition for McGehee’s graduate studies: “AWAKENING: a symphonic poem for large orchestra in one movement.”