Hi - my name is Greg Nahabedian. If you want the “formal” bio just scroll down.

I’m a composer and performer based in Southern NH where I live with my wife and two guinea pigs, King Paimon and Matt Damon. I use they / them pronouns. A lot of my music is vocal, operatic, or uses spoken word. I mostly just like storytelling and looking for the intersection of humor, history, and politics. I play in a band called Cheap City, which primarily uses its music to explore the trappings of a fictional universe we created. Some of my capital C compositions take place in Cheap City, but some of them don’t! Some of my music is goofy and some of it is not goofy at all. I don’t know where the intersection of those things are for me and I think that’s okay.

I run the record label Dollhouse Lightning as well as the Boston New Music Calendar. I’m also one of the founding members of the opera company Strange Trace. I also currently play in the bands MCtheprofessor.gov, and Niffin. I write for I Care If You Listen, That’s Good Enough For Me, and have also been published in National Sawdust Log. Sometimes I write blogs and essays right here on this website. I love collecting records (follow me on discogs and make fun my collection - it’s okay) and I’ve become an obsessive movie watcher (follow me on letterboxd and be horrified at how much time I spend watching movies).


Okay here’s the formal stuff:

Greg Nahabedian is a gender non-binary (they/them pronouns) composer, performer, and writer whose projects range from operas, films, and chamber music, to spoken word, free improvisation, and punk rock. The descendant of an Armenian refugee, Greg uses a diverse range of influences and musical experiences to create works that simultaneously interact with politics, spirituality, and comedy. 

Major works include 2014’s If The Lord Should So Incline My Heart, an hour-long "melologue" (a term taken from Berlioz's Lélio) depicting the life of the 18th century slave trader, John Newton and was described by the Worcester Telegram as , “molded with care and fearlessness, a daring which deserves to be rewarded.” In 2018 Greg premiered their opera War Is A Racket, based on the life of Smedley Butler with a libretto written by the composer. In 2019 Greg contributed music to Neil Parsons’ newest one man show, A Thousand Words, based on journals from the Vietnam War. 2020’s opera October Surprise was described by audiences at Minneapolis Fringe as, “well crafted,” “beautifully performed,” and, “super weird.”

Greg’s music has been performed by A Very Small Consortium, Hypercube, Kevin Madison, June Aino, Space Pants, Duo Zonda, Jeremy Howell, Neil Parsons, Joshua Scheid, Mazumal, Emily Mehigh, Beth Ratay, Stephanie Lamprea, Rose Hegele, Jeremiah Cossa, The Boston Conservatory Chorale, Quorum Boston, and The Boston Conservatory Composer’s Orchestra and has received commissions from The Coaxial Arts Gallery, Drag Yourself Together, Boy Nirvana, Neil Parsons, Histamine Tapes, Waywords and Meansigns, Split The Lark, June Violet Aino, Kelvyn Koning, Re:worked, Craig Bidiman, Alissa Voth, Alec Norkey, and Joshua Scheid. In 2018 Greg was named as finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Award and in 2019 Greg was a semi-finalist for American Opera Projects ‘Composers and the Voice’ program.

In 2017 Greg started the Boston New Music Calendar with vocalist Felicia Chen. The calendar compiles new music events in the Greater Boston Area and distributes information via social media and a stand alone website. Greg spoke about the calendar at 2018’s New Music Gathering. Greg is the founder of the record label Dollhouse Lightning which releases music by an international community of bands and composers. Greg is a founding member and music director for the independent opera company Strange Trace.

Greg received their B.A. in Music Composition from Hampshire College in 2014 under Marty Ehrlich and Kate Soper and their M.M. in Music Composition from Boston Conservatory in 2018 under Curtis Hughes and Felipe Lara. Greg has independently studied with Mischa Salkind-Pearl and Mary Kouyoumdjian.

Greg currently plays in the bands Cheap City, MCTheProfessor.gov, and Niffin. Greg is currently an instructor of piano and composition at the Nashua Community Music School, and has taught at Boston Conservatory’s High School Composition Intensive. As a writer, Greg is a contributor at I Care If You Listen and an editor at That’s Good Enough For Me.

FULL PRESS KIT

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