Bryce Dessner Essentials

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Bryce Dessner has humbly dominated the pensive end of indie rock, film scores, and even chart-topping pop. Born in 1976 in Ohio, Bryce—alongside his twin brother, Aaron—spent much of the 2000s crafting intricate guitar arrangements for rock stalwarts The National. But as a Yale music graduate, Dessner was also quietly building a reputation as a classical virtuoso. As The National continued to expand its sound—and audience—so did Dessner. His many film scores and commissions for world-renowned orchestras reveal his incredible versatility as he weaves Baroque, minimalism, modernism, folk, and other disparate styles into compositions that often slip between visceral and sublime. In between, he has thrived as a collaborator, creating a mix of cosmic symphonic epics and earthy acoustic sketches with artists including his brother, Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, and Taylor Swift.