About

Isaac Mayhew is a composer and trumpet player based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He has been commissioned or programmed by a variety of ensembles including Zeitgeist, the Rochester New Music Ensemble, the Lawrence University Symphonic Band, the Beltline Bones, The _____ Experiment, Sputter Box, Front Porch, and the Zenith Saxophone Quartet, as well as by soloists such as Nikki Melville and Drew Hosler. His music has been performed in cities across the United States and appears on several recordings, including Audiogenica (2024, Beltline Bones), we grow accustomed to the dark, vol. 1 (2022), Convergence (2021, Zenith Saxophone Quartet), Walking Songs (2020), Sputter (SHRINKS THE) Box (2020, Sputter Box), why can’t the world be poetic (2019), and Liquid Jungle (2017, Liquid Jungle Quintet).

​

In addition to his work as a composer, Isaac is an active performer and advocate for new music. He is a founding member of the Liquid Jungle Quintet and currently performs with Lemonbrass, a Twin Cities-based brass quintet dedicated to music by living composers. As a trumpet player, he has commissioned, premiered, or recorded works by Anat Spiegel, Daniel Whitworth, Nebal Maysaud, Evan Williams, Jonathan Posthuma, Emily Boyajian, Thomas Myrmel, and Conner Leigh Shaw.

​

Isaac holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition, cum laude, from Lawrence University, where he studied with Asha Srinivasan, Joanne Metcalf, and Benjamin Klein. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Millennium Composers Initiative, a collective of over one hundred early-career composers from across the U.S. and beyond, working together to create bold, collaborative projects that bring new music to life. He is also a board member of RenegadeEnsemble, a Twin Cities-based organization dedicated to building audiences for contemporary vocal and instrumental chamber music in Minnesota.