Originally a native of Phoenix, Arizona, Drew Sperry now lives in Bloomington, Indiana as both a composer and a cellist. In 2025 he graduated from Butler University with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Composition, studying composition with Michael Schelle and Richard Auldon Clark, and cello performance with William Grubb. At Butler University he served as assistant principal of the Butler University Symphony and Butler Ballet orchestras, while also performing with the Butler String Ensemble, JCA New Music Ensemble, and in several chamber ensembles performing a variety of repertoire. His time at Butler saw several world premieres of his chamber works, as well as fully-staged world premieres of his dance piece “But a Breath Amongst the Wind” and his two-act chamber opera “The Last Days of Louis Capet”. Drew is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in Music Composition at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Don Freund (composition) and Emilio Colón (cello).

 

In his music, Drew likes to particularly focus on connections made throughout a piece, oftentimes through careful developments of motivic fragments and constructions of rich, dense harmonies. Drew’s interest in musical connections also extends beyond the music itself to his frequent collaborations with other artists including musicians, choreographers, and theatre technicians. In incorporating collaboration very intimately into his compositional process, Drew believes that the resulting music is more personal not only for the performers, but for the audience as well.