Riley Burke

Biography

I’m a songwriter, composer, arranger, and producer for media, concert, and theatre.

And I’m a writer, editor, actress, fiddler, comedian, orchestrator, educator, and coach who is passionate about connecting the arts and athletics.

My work bridges light and dark spaces while exploring bound and untethered states, female power, and liberation, and I specialize in shaping stories and creating/participating in structured improv-based environments.

I believe storytelling, collaboration, and creativity are powerful tools for change, and I am passionate about building a more inclusive world through community building and disruptive engagement.

I welcomed my debut album Reconfiguration into the world with a release show at The Cutting Room, and I’m developing a show based on the album’s story. (In 2024, its closing song I Know How These Things Go was selected for The Bitter End’s Songwriters Night hosted by the SCL, SGA, and NY Songwriters Collective.)

I scored Hillia Aho’s film In Passing, which premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Festival, and I’m a graduate of the NYU Master’s program in Scoring for Film & Multimedia.

I’ve written music for the SNY television network and Bronx Documentary Center, and I’ve had my music featured in Echo, a London-based feminist production of Hamlet by Antonia Georgieva. Last summer I combined my favorite skillsets — acting, fiddling, improvising, and composing — while starring in The Hill: Stories from Spoon River at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. This summer I played fiddle in The Matchmaker (Hudson Valley Shakespeare, NY Times Critic’s Pick).

When not delving into artistic endeavors, I coach youth basketball and track, transform organizational cultures by building HR-related systems and leading during transition periods, and nerd out about biopsychosocial interconnectivity.

I’m also a proud Board member of Grace Notes Music Foundation (South Florida) and a writer/publisher with ASCAP.