Anton von Sehrwald is a composer and guitarist from Austin, Texas, interested in creating bridges for audiences to appreciate experimental music, incorporating interdisciplinary elements into his work, and expanding the modern repertory for classical guitar. Among other accolades, Anton tied for first prize in composition at the 2021 Twisted Spruce International Symposium and Competition, and was chosen as a finalist in the 2018 National Young Composer’s Challenge. He has had his music performed by Wet Ink Ensemble, Hear No Evil, invoke, and the Allandale Quartet, among others, and has written music for the IU film department and the game design program in the IU Media School. He was one of a select few accepted to study composition at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp in 2016 and to participate in the 2017 Golden Hornet Student Composer Laboratory in Austin. Currently pursuing an MM in Composition from Mannes School of Music at The New School, Anton earned his BM Composition and BM Guitar Performance degrees at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, and is an honors graduate of the McCallum Fine Arts Academy in Austin, Texas.
As a guitarist, Anton has worked in a variety of contexts with many well-respected guitar figures. He has done community outreach work and written pedagogical repertoire for Austin Classical Guitar, studied guitar composition with Sergio Assad, opened for the Bandini-Chiacchiaretta duo, and performed in many ensemble contexts, including the IU Guitar Ensemble (with whom he has also premiered his original works), the IU New Music Ensemble, the decorated McCallum Chamber Guitar Ensemble (for which he served as principal chair), the Guitar Foundation of America Youth Orchestra, and various high school all-region and all-state guitar ensembles.
Outside of concert music, Anton has been active in a variety of musical disciplines, releasing alternative singer-songwriter music as Wolfgang Frank, experimental electronic recordings as Galaxy Designer, hardcore and noise as Data Deity, in addition to work under various other monikers. He wishes to connect his work in these disciplines to his work in contemporary concert music, forging meaningful relationships between aesthetics to steward a more diverse and interconnected musical community.