bio
Photo by Adam DeTour Photography
Andrew Worden is a composer and percussionist with 10+ years experience in arts leadership and higher education.
A former Assistant Dean in New England Conservatory’s Community Engagement and Professional Studies division, Andrew’s focus on entrepreneurship and creative ventures led to his most recent role designing and leading entrepreneurship programs to support startups through UT Austin’s Business Strategies unit.
Drew’s music has been performed in Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, and La Scala Paris. His music for percussion has been performed in 15+ countries across North and South America, Europe, and Asia, and been commissioned and performed by the Paris Percussion Group, the Eastman Percussion Ensemble, Virginia Tech, and Third Coast Percussion.
As an educator, Andrew designed 2 entrepreneurship courses for NEC’s curriculum and has taught workshops for the Faculty at the Maryland Institute College of Art, students at COJAC with the Monterey Jazz Festival and El Sistema, and multiple conservatories and universities across the US.
As former Assistant Dean of Entrepreneurship at the New England Conservatory, Andrew oversaw the expansion of NEC’s venture funding opportunities into a full service organization. With Andrew’s help, creatives have won more than $500k in funding to support their work in the arts.
Artist-led projects he advised have gone on to be presented by the Celebrity Series, won funding from the MIT Creative Arts competition and the Boston Foundation, and been featured by the Boston Globe, WBUR, and USA Today.
In 1,100+ coaching sessions, he’s helped students and professionals negotiate fair salaries, release new original work, develop their project ideas, and find/create opportunities in the arts.
Andrew is co-founder of The Big Trouble, an indie/rock percussion and songwriting collective he created alongside Ivan Trevino. As a producer/performer, Andrew has worked on both sides of the booth for classical and rock projects in recording studios in Toronto, Ireland, Boston, the University of Notre Dame, and the Eastman School of Music.
Andrew earned the Master of Music and Certificate in Arts Leadership from the Eastman School of Music, and the Bachelor of Music from Northern Arizona University.
He lives in Austin, TX with his wife, daughter, and rescue pup Max.
Praise for Original Concert Design & Performance
“Their plan was simple: to make classical music a blast. And it worked.”
— 585 Magazine
“…the most amazing piece I’ve seen thus far at Fringe. It was so lovely to behold that I found myself dreading its inevitable conclusion… for 60 minutes I found myself enraptured in a brilliantly crafted world of beauty, melody, and calmness.”
— CITY Magazine