“I have had the pleasure of getting to know Ernie Bird and his music for the past year. […] From listening to the very first notes, I knew Ernie’s musical voice could invoke character and string dramatic arcs in a special and unique way. Ernie brings both craft and instinct to each new piece, resulting in music theater that feels fresh and exciting.”
– Zach Redler, Composer (The Falling and The Rising, The Memory Show)
“Ernie Bird is an original, a gifted musical storyteller who writes bold and emotionally stirring compositions”
– Michael Wartofsky, Musical Theatre Composer (Car Talk: The Musical!!!, Cupcake)
Broadcast Media & Commercial Theatre
Musical Theatre
Pop Songwriting
Classical Compositions
Scoring for Film, Broadcast Media & Background Music
Training includes:
- Reinhold Glière Kyiv Municipal Academy of Music (pre-college)
- Berklee College of Music, B.M. (half-tuition scholarship)
- NYU Tisch, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, M.F.A. (full-scholarship)
- Currently: BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop
- Mentorship & private lessons by Adam Guettel since December 2021
Most notable awards include:
- Winner of the International Songwriting Competition 2012, Nashville.
- Semi-finalist of the International Songwriting Competition of 2013, 2017 and 2018, Nashville.
- Finalist of the Curtain Up Musical Theatre Songwriting Competition of 2017 and 2020 (2021), Boston.
- Finalist of the Theatre Now New York Sound Bites Festival, NYC, 2020 (2022).
- EB1A Extraordinary Ability in the Arts Green Card holder based on achievements in Musical Theatre Composition and Writing.
Ernie Bird is also a guest composer at Columbia University’s MFA Playwriting Program. His songs were performed by Wicked’s Kara Lindsay and GBBO’s Matt Lucas, and featured on Apple Podcasts, the NYT, and Chicago Sun-Times.