The Los Angeles Times recently wrote "Bassist Doug Balliett, who teaches a course on the Beatles at the Juilliard School and writes weekly cantatas for Sunday church services, as well as wacky pop operas, is in a class of his own." The New York Times has described his compositions as "brainily bubble gum and lovable shaggy" (Rome is Faling), his poetry as “brilliant and witty” (Clytie and the Sun), and his bass playing as “elegant” (Shawn Jaeger’s In Old Virginny). Doug has been professor of baroque bass and violone at The Juilliard School since 2017, and leads the Theotokos ensemble every Sunday at St. Mary's church on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He plays regularly with AMOC, Les Arts Florissants, Jupiter Ensemble, ACRONYM, Ruckus, BEMF, Alarm Will Sound, and other ensembles Since 2020, Mr. Balliett has been engaged in a living baroque church music project, in which he composes liturgically relevant cantatas every week for performance with his ensembleTheotokos, based at St. Mary’s on the lower east side. The new works are paired with music of the baroque, all performed in situ at the Mass. The ensemble regularly gives additional performances of sacred music around the city, most recently works by Telemann, Charpentier, and Marenzio. In August 2021 five of his Ovid Cantatas were filmed for Qwest TV with William Christie, Lea Desandre, Nick Scott, and members of Les Arts Florissants and the Juilliard School. For three years he and his twin brother hosted a weekly show dedicated to living composers on WQXR's new music channel Q2. Recent performances of his work include Beast Fights at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra bass section, and the annual New Year's Eve performance of his opera Gawain and the Green Knight (which was also recorded in 2024). Ongoing projects include a new song cycle for the Magee Marsh “Biggest Week in American Birding”, and a St. Mark Passion, which will be composed for Les Arts Florissants and premiered at the 2024 Festival Thiré. He is also busy composing a new opera, Rome is Faling, which is in development with the American Modern Opera Company. A workshop performance will be given at the Clark Museum in August 2024, and the final work will be premiered in Lincoln Center in 2025.

Residency project:

“Our time at the Odyssée Residency in January 2025 will be key for preparing and developing new compositions in progress by director Doug Balliett. The Passion of St. Mark, being composed for a European premiere in France in August, 2024, will be revisited, rehearsed, and edited in advance of the American premiere in April 2025. The group will also be exploring new trios for 2 soprani and continuo, based on texts by American poets. Should the opportunity present itself, we would be happy to perform at one of the local churches, either during or outside of mass. We will also be happy to share our work with the community in a more secular setting while we are there, in any way feasible.”