Trey Makler (he/him) is a Sacramento-based composer who writes serious music that doesn't take itself too seriously. He finds inspiration in daily mundanities, including long walks and office drudgery; memory, often seen through rose-colored glasses; and an orbit of queer theories and histories around failure, hope, and collectivity. His work spans chamber, orchestral, operatic, dance, and electronic media, and features a number of significant collaborative projects.

Trey’s music has been heard across the United States and Brazil, and has been performed and presented by Alarm Will Sound, Berlin PianoPercussion, ultra-soprano Emily Thorner, Empyrean Ensemble, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, The Great Noise Ensemble, The Juilliard Orchestra, Magela Herrera Quartet, PinkNoise, Mizzou New Music Initiative, NEO Sound Orchestra, Splinter Reeds, the University of Missouri Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Workshop, and members of the St. Louis Symphony. Trey has received commissions from Camellia Symphony, flutist Joshua Paul Stine, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, the New York Choreographic Institute, saxophonist Nick May and the I Exist Project, and Vallejo Symphony. Notable presenting venues have included Alice Tully Hall, Areté Venue and Gallery, the Empress Theatre, the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, National Sawdust, Sheldon Concert Hall, and the Jewel Box in Forest Park (St. Louis), among others.

Trey has been the recipient of several top honors in composition, including the Arthur Friedman Prize in Orchestral Composition (The Juilliard School), the Sinquefield Prize (University of Missouri), and was selected as the winner of the first annual Boston New Music Initiative Young Composers Competition. His scholarly and creative research has been supported by the Bilinski Educational Foundation, the New Music USA Creator Fund Award, and the Sacramento Creative Growth Fellowship.

Trey is a Lecturer in Music at the University of California, Davis where he teaches courses in musicianship and electronic music. His upcoming projects include a new work for flute choir and soloist Joshua Paul Stine, a string quartet for Orange Road, a fixed media collaboration with SeroCon of What Would An HIV Doula Do?, and a book chapter titled "More is More: Voice, Body and Excess in Quotations from a Ruined City" in the forthcoming Viral Measures: Music and the AIDS Crisis. He holds degrees from The University of California, Davis (PhD ‘24), The Juilliard School (MM ‘19), and the University of Missouri (BM ‘17). Trey is a member of the American Composers Alliance and his scores are published under the American Composers Edition imprint.