BIO

Born in New Orleans and raised in Atlanta, Malcolm Parson has emerged as a dynamic force in contemporary music, seamlessly bridging the worlds of composition, performance, and conducting. A Grammy-nominated musician, his work is deeply rooted in the traditions of his upbringing while embracing innovative and expansive approaches to sound and storytelling.

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As a composer, Parson has crafted scores for critically acclaimed films and series, including Love Lizzo, The Sentence of Michael Thompson, The Secrets of Hillsong, If I Go Will They Miss Me, The Money Game, and Little Woods. His compositions, marked by emotional depth and vivid textures, have garnered recognition across diverse audiences. He was commissioned in 2022 by the Cello Teaching Repertoire Consortium, with support from Summer@Eastman at the Eastman School of Music, to compose Ole River Blue for cello and piano, inspired by the mighty Mississippi River. Recent premieres include Alfred (2023) and The Dawn’s Awake (2024) with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their Chamber Music Series.

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Parson has contributed his cello artistry to notable films, including Palmer, A Man Named Scott, Kingdom of Silence, Mudbound, and Blow The Man Down. He has performed and recorded with celebrated artists such as Terence Blanchard (Grammy-nominated Absence), Lakecia Benjamin, Arooj Aftab, The Baylor Project, Somi, Kelsey Lu, Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Nate Smith, and Paquito D’Rivera. His television performances include appearances on The David Letterman Show with Rhiannon Giddens, the 2018 MTV VMAs with Shawn Mendes, and The Jimmy Fallon Show with Niall Horan and The Roots.

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In 2024, he was named a Conductor Fellow for the Carlos Miguel Prieto Conducting Fellowship, serving as Assistant Conductor for the Orchestra of the Americas. This fellowship culminated in a performance at Hill Auditorium with Yo-Yo Ma and Kayhan Kalhor. Additionally, he took part in virtual masterclasses with renowned conductors, including Marin Alsop, Leonard Slatkin, Sir Roger Norrington, and Alexander Shelley.

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A former member of Carolina Chocolate Drops and Turtle Island String Quartet, Malcolm Parson holds a B.M. in Contemporary Writing and Production from Berklee College of Music, an Artist Diploma in Conducting from OAcademy Music Conservatory, and currently finishing his M.A. in Composition from Tulane University. He studied composition with Roger Dickerson and Barbara Jazwinski and trained as a cellist under Ron Carter, Eugene Friesen, Natalie Haas, and Karen Freer.