Diallo Banks is a composer interested in sympathetic resonance, open scores, improvisation, and instrument modification. As a performer, his work pushes the Hammond organ’s capabilities to their limits while still firmly engaging with its history as a sonic signifier of Black identity. Diallo’s works have been commissioned and performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Yale Philharmonia, Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Aspen Conducting Orchestra, and Contemporary Insights Ensemble in Leipzig, Germany. He has received awards and recognition from the American Composers Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and MATA Festival. His works have been performed at venues such as the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Meyerson Symphony Hall, ISSUE Project Room, and the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello in Venice. He holds degrees from the Conservatory of Music at Lynn University and a Master of Music in Composition from Yale University. In the fall of 2025, he will begin his Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition at Columbia University. Outside of music, Diallo enjoys reading, vegan cooking, painting, and watching films.
Diallo Banks | composer 