Todd Mason

Todd Mason (Los Angeles, 1957) is an American composer. He earned his Master’s degree in composition at The Juilliard School, where he studied with David Diamond, Peter Mennin, and Elliott Carter. He has received numerous distinctions, including an ASCAP Young Composers Award presented by Aaron Copland, and more recently a First Prize from the American String Teachers Association.

His works have been performed by ensembles such as the Juilliard Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic, and the Brno Philharmonic, and are presented worldwide across Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia. In 2023, his Violin Concerto was released, recorded by Tosca Opdam and the Budapest Symphonic Scoring Orchestra under the direction of Péter Illényi, receiving critical acclaim. In 2024, Mason served as composer-in-residence at the Syros International Classical Festival in Greece.

In addition to his work as a composer, Mason is active as a filmmaker for PBS. About his compositional process, he says:
“I feel like an explorer when I'm composing, and when I discover a new place—a place that's mysterious and unexpected—my first reaction is amazement. What is this? Where did it come from? My second reaction is that I want to share this with others as soon as possible.”