Linda Tutas Haugen earned a B.A. in Music from St. Olaf College, and an M.A. in Music Composition and Theory from the University of Minnesota. She has written music for a wide variety of vocal and instrumental genres, including concerti, chamber and full orchestral works, opera, and choral music. She is inspired by literary and ethnic sources, and has utilized creative instrumentation such as Native American flute and folk instruments in her compositions. Her music has been described as “music of character and genuine beauty” [Minneapolis Star and Tribune.] Opera Today reviewed Haugen’s most recent work, Pocahontas, calling it “superbly crafted” and “beautiful and often powerful.”

Haugen has received numerous grants and commissions, including awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Jerome Foundation, the American Composers Forum, and Meet The Composer. Recent commissions include a 25th Anniversary work for the San Francisco Girls Chorus using texts from the Diary of Anne Frank, an orchestral work for the National Kidney Foundation in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of organ transplantation, a National Endowment for the Arts funded grant to compose a work for the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, and a work for organ and trumpet commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for its 2008 National Convention. She recently completed an ACF Faith Partners Residency in Minneapolis and St. Paul with the Colonial Church of Edina and Mt. Zion Temple, as well as an opera based on the true story of Pocahontas for the Virginia Arts Festival and the Virginia Opera commemorating the 400th Anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, which premiered in May, 2007.