Biography

A listing of Shelley Foster Gurin’s commissioned works can be found on the Compositions page of this website. 

Shelley Foster Gurin’s music has been performed and conducted by artists such as Walfrid Kujala of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jan Gippo of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, former conductor John P. Paynter of Northwestern University and Don Owens, former educator and conductor of Jazz and Contemporary Music at Northwestern University. Ensembles that have performed her music include the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, the Highland Park Strings, Northwestern University Ensembles, the Northeastern Illinois University Wind Ensemble, the DePaul University Wind Symphony, the Northshore Concert Band as well as Symphonic Bands in St. Louis Missouri, Racine Wisconsin, Wasilla Alaska and Sweden. Her works have also been performed at the International Trombone Association Festival and the International Clarinet Association Festival.

Gurin’s composition AB-SENSE was featured on WFMT’s Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin. WFMT also aired her composition Sentiments for Piccolo. 

Early in her career, Gurin was involved in the Chicago radio and television commercial recording industry, first as a trombonist then as a composer/arranger/producer. Her degrees include a Doctor of Music in Composition, a Master of Music in Trombone Performance and a Bachelor of Music Education, all from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Gurin formerly taught courses in Instrumental Conducting, Music Theory and Music Education at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois where she was the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award. She has retired from that position to devote her time to composing. Shelley Foster Gurin is a member of ASCAP.