Edgar Girtain

Edgar Fikes Girtain IV is an American composer. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Rutgers University, where he also obtained a Master’s degree in Music Theory and Composition. In 2023, he completed his Doctorate on scholarship at the State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo under David Felder. His compositions have been performed and commissioned across Western Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East. Between 2012 and 2019, Dr. Girtain taught general, vocal, and instrumental music at K-12 schools throughout New Jersey and the Región de Los Lagos, Chile. He has worked as the organist at the Lutheran Church of Puerto Montt, conducted choirs, founded the Southern Chilean Composers Forum, and served as the director of the Casa de las Artes at the Universidad Austral de Chile’s Puerto Montt Campus from 2019-2024. In Southern Chile, he is recognized for his significant contributions to music education as a performer, arranger, and composer. In 2022, his climate change cantata, “Otro Viento Cantará,” premiered at the Teatro del Lago as part of the “Puedes Cantar” program by the Ibáñez Atkinson Foundation, featuring over 300 children from schools in the Los Lagos region. In the same year, he was honored by the municipality of Puerto Montt for his composition, “Una Joya Perdida.” His music is published by First String Press, JW Pepper, and is also available through his website.

Courses Taught

• Chamber Choir
• Chorus Class
• Piano Music Theory
• Music Education