A decade ago, The Guardian wondered if Caroline Shaw (1982) was the future of music. Although that is a difficult question to answer, we can now conclude that she is one of the most innovative figures in today’s music world. As a composer, singer, violinist and producer, she wears many different hats and cannot be pigeonholed, and we love that. Her music sounds curious and playful, but also deeply spiritual and connected to ancient traditions.
Shaw broke through worldwide when she became the youngest composer ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for Partita (2012), which she wrote for her own ensemble A Roomful of Teeth. She also holds four Grammies, an honorary doctorate from Yale. She has collaborated with top ensembles as well as artists such as Kanye West and Björk. She was also house composer of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam during the previous season, in 2024-2025.
Old and New
Shaw’s music can sometimes sound like Renaissance polyphony, at other times like modernist music or even pop. She loves to experiment with different sound colors: strings whispering like voices, voices clicking, whispering, or gliding like strings. Her fascination with early music is often the starting point. Shaw herself has said that she does not want to revive old music through her compositions, but rather give it new meaning. As she once explained in an interview: “I don’t want to revive the past. I want to respond to it.” This curiosity results in music that feels familiar while still sounding entirely fresh.
Shaw & Choir
Many of Shaw’s best-known works are written for choir or vocal ensembles. Performers value her music for its rhythmic energy, luminous harmonies, and innovative techniques that always remain rooted in text and emotion.
Recommended listening:
Partita for 8 Voices (2012)
Shaw’s breakthrough work and Pulitzer Prize-winning composition. Written for the vocal ensemble A Roomful of Teeth, it weaves together vocal techniques from different cultures, including Tuvan throat singing, yodeling traditions, and Baroque dance forms. The four movements reference classical dances (Allemande, Sarabande, Courante, Passacaglia), but radically reinvent them: rhythmic, playful, and boundary-pushing. Here, the human voice becomes a complete orchestra in itself.
and the swallow (2017)
A serene and lyrical choral work for SATB choir based on Psalm 84: “Even the sparrow finds a home…”. Shaw draws on centuries-old psalm traditions while creating a gentle sound of hope: warm harmonies, transparent textures, and melodic lines unfolding like a small bird finding a safe place to rest. Commissioned by the Three Choirs Festival, the work has become beloved by choirs around the world for its direct emotional impact.
Narrow Sea (2022)
A Grammy-winning five-part work using texts from a 19th-century American collection of hymns. Shaw combines her ongoing explorations of folk song and hymnody with a unique sonic world featuring ceramic bowls, humming, a piano treated like a dulcimer by multiple performers at once, and even flowerpots used as percussion instruments.
A Love of Collaboration
Where some composers might keep collaborations with pop stars quiet, Shaw embraces them wholeheartedly. She wrote string arrangements and contributed vocals for rappers such as Kanye West (808s & Heartbreak and The Life of Pablo) and Nas, and has performed multiple times with Björk. She has also collaborated with Spanish singer Rosalía and rock bands such as The National and Arcade Fire.
Beyond the pop world, Shaw is a highly sought-after composer for major string quartets, ensembles, and orchestras, including Sō Percussion, Attacca Quartet, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York City Ballet, and the National Theatre. She has also worked with sopranos Renée Fleming and Dawn Upshaw, as well as cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
The sheer number and diversity of Shaw’s collaborations align perfectly with her artistic “origin story.” In several interviews, this musical polymath describes music-making as, fundamentally, an act of togetherness.
Why Caroline Shaw Feels So Relevant Today
Caroline Shaw captures exactly what choral music can be today: curious, open, playful, and deeply human. Her music invites listeners from all musical backgrounds to hear the world — and each other — with fresh ears.
