Victor Tswei’s music is visceral, boisterous, raw. He composes sonic intensity and immediacy through complex texture, intense sonority, and unconventional timbral combinations. 

Victor is especially fascinated by texts in different languages, and pays special attention to the lived experience of people. His music gives life and power to stories of contemporary/historical individuals through his keen observation and sensibility, communicating directly with the audience both through storytelling and physical, embodied emotions.

Praised as “fundamentally musical” by the Olga and Paul Menn Foundation, Victor has collaborated with ensembles around the world including Ensemble Modern, Mivos Quartet, Ensemble Musikfrabrik, ~Nois, etc. Victor’s music has been featured in Fontainebleau School of Music and Fine Arts, TUTTI Festival, Barcelona Modern, Valencia International Performance Academy, Lake George Music Festival, etc. He is a fellow at I-Park Foundation in 2026, and the 2025 2nd prize winner of the Abell Young Composer Award at the University of Louisville.

Victor is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree at the Shepherd School of Music of Rice University on a full tuition scholarship. He holds a Master of Music (MM) in composition from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor and Master of Arts (BA/MA) joint degree in Music and the Humanities from the University of Chicago.

As a professional choral and solo singer (tenor-baritone), Victor participated in many premieres and performances of contemporary choral music, including Tyshawn Sorey’s Monochromatic Light, and works by James MacMillan, Tim Watts, David Lang, Craig Hella Johnson, Jonathan Dove, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir.