Bryce Dessner

In addition to his work with the National, Dessner is known for his work as an independent composer. His orchestral, chamber, and vocal compositions have been commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, ensemble intercontemporain, Metropolitan Museum of Art (for the New York Philharmonic), Kronos Quartet, Carnegie Hall, BAM Next Wave Festival, Barbican Centre, Edinburgh International Festival, Sounds from a Safe Harbour Festival (Cork, Ireland), Sydney Festival, eighth blackbird, Sō Percussion, New York City Ballet, and many others. His work Murder Ballades was featured on eighth Blackbird's album Filament, an album he also produced and performed on, which won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance.
Dessner has collaborated with artists such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Paul Simon, Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Jonny Greenwood, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Terry Riley, Justin Peck, Ragnar Kjartansson, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Nick Cave, and Taylor Swift, among others. Dessner is the founder of the MusicNOW Festival, co-founder of Copenhagen's HAVEN festival, and co-curator of the festival Sounds from a Safe Harbour. He is a founding member of the improvisatory instrumental group Clogs and co-founder of Brassland Records. In 2018, Dessner was named one of eight creative and artistic partners for the San Francisco Symphony as part of incoming Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen's new leadership model for the orchestra in 2020. He has a bachelor's degree and master's degree in music from Yale University.
Dessner, along with his twin brother Aaron, was named the 243rd greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone in 2023.
In 2026, Dessner earned his first Academy Award nomination for his work on the film Train Dreams.