While maintaining a residence in the United States, Gloria Coates has lived in Europe since 1969, devoting her time primarily to composition. She organized the German-American Music Series in Munich from 1971-1984, presented the results of her experiments with multiphonic vocal technique at the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music in 1972, and founded the music program for the University of Wisconsin’s Semester Abroad in 1975. She has lectured on American music, written musicological articles, and wrote and broadcast radio programs on American music for the German radio.

Her breakthrough as a composer came with the premier of “Music on Open Strings” (1973) at the Warsaw Autumn Festival in 1978. This same work was performed in the Musica Viva Series of the Bavarian Radio in Munich in 1980 (the frist orchestral composition by a woman to be performed in the 35 years of the series), and was one of the 10 finalists for the International Koussevitzsky Award in 1986. She was invited to the First Festival for New Music- Moscow in 1981, and lectured on her music at Harvard in 1984.

Gloria Coates has composed works for orchestra (including 14 symphonies), vocal music with piano and orchestral accompaniment, numerous chamber music works for two to nine instruments (including 8 string quartets), solo instrumental pieces, choral works, electronic, and music for the theatre.