Karl Blench is a Houston-based composer, most known for his chamber music compositions. He was born March 24, 1981, and received his undergraduate degrees in music education and music theory from the University of New Hampshire. He made the move to Texas in 2005 and attended Rice University for his master’s and doctorate degrees in music composition. His most popular works, “Axiom” for string quartet and “Second Take” for viola and piano/percussion, have been played throughout the United States, Europe, China and Cuba.

Blench fully arranged the Axiom Quartet’s debut album in 2018, which in addition to his work “Axiom,” featured his original work, “Interludes and Transitions” for string quartet. This album garnered highly positive reviews from The WholeNote and American Record Guide. Other notable performances of Blench’s work include the Indianapolis Symphony, the University of Houston Wind Ensemble, and the Shepherd School of Music Symphony and Chamber orchestras. Blench’s works have also been premiered in Carnegie Hall multiple times as well as the Kennedy center.

Blench is the recipient of the 2010 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award and the 2011 Marilyn K. Glick Young Composers Competition. He also won the 2018 Frame Dance Composers Competition. Blench worked with novelist Dan Brown, author of “The Da Vinci Code,” to orchestrate and arrange Brown’s music for the upcoming children’s book, “Wild Symphony.”