Elizabeth Gartman (b.1996) is a composer and soprano currently based in New York City. With compositions described as “refreshingly absurd” (The Washington Post) and “innovative” (Twin Cities Arts Reader), Elizabeth’s music frequently explores illusion and surrealism, as well as vocalism and process through performance. Elizabeth has been commissioned by Washington National Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, New Chamber Ballet, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra Percussion Ensemble, Guerilla Opera, InfraSound Ensemble, confluss, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Ensemble Chemie, Experiments in Opera, the Why Collective, NYC Virtuoso Singers, Pax Duo, soprano Kirsten Voss, flutist Steph Dressler, clarinetist Ford Fourqurean and others. Her work has been received internationally at venues from National Sawdust, Mark Morris Dance, Salzburg Stadtgalerie Lehen, the Cell Theatre, to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Elizabeth’s hometown of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, among others.

Last year, Elizabeth was selected as part of the Women Opera Makers conference at Festival Aix-en-Provence. She has served as composer-in-residence at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity since 2024, and was a member of the 2024-26 Writers’ Room Residency at Experiments in Opera. In 2023, Elizabeth was selected as a composition fellow with American Opera Projects at the Kennedy Center. Later that year, Elizabeth received Honorable Mention for the Darmstadt Ferienkurse Kranichsteiner Musikpreis. In 2022, Elizabeth was named Runner-Up of Beth Morrison Project’s Next Gen Competition for emerging opera composers with her one-act opera It is a Comfort to Know, written with frequent collaborator librettist Susan Bywaters. The year prior, Elizabeth was awarded the William Schuman Prize for Most Outstanding Score in the BMI Composer Awards for her work [Weight], another collaboration with Bywaters. Additional accolades include Manhattan School of Music’s Carl Kanter Prize for Orchestral Composition (First Place), the Giampaolo Bracali Award for Composition, three finalist awards with the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Competition, the Theodore Presser Undergraduate Music Award, the Judith Life Ikenbery Award, the Geraldine B. Cooke Opera Scholarship, and the Ruth DeYoung Kohler Scholarship for Artistic Excellence.

As a performer, Elizabeth is dedicated to the contemporary dramatic stage, with a background in classical voice and a current emphasis on new works. She has been received as both a principle and ensemble singer on the dramatic stage and as a concert soloist. Elizabeth has been received as a soprano soloist and chamber ensemble member at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden, the LGBT Center in New York, and the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center. In 2018, Elizabeth was featured as the principle role of "Bibi" in a workshop production of PRISM; a three-act opera written by Ellen Reid and produced by Beth Morrison Projects.  Later that year, Elizabeth attended Songfest in Los Angeles as a Young Artist and Vivace Summer Opera in Vancouver.

The 2025-2026 season includes premieres and performances with Experiments in Opera (and Hypercube), the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, One Ounce Opera, New Chamber Ballet, mezzo-soprano Kirsten Voss, and clarinetist Ford Fourqurean. Projects with librettists Susan Bywaters and Melisa Tien are in development for future seasons. Elizabeth serves as a faculty member in composition and theory at Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music School.

Elizabeth received her Master of Music degree in composition from Manhattan School of Music after earning Bachelor’s of Music degrees in both composition and vocal performance at the University of Illinois. Compositional instructors and mentors have included Susan Botti, Missy Mazzoli, Dr. Reynold Tharp, and Dr. Carlos Carrillo. Voice instructors include Lucy Shelton and Dr. Ollie Watts Davis.