Jacob David Sudol(b. Des Moines, Iowa 1980) writes intimate compositions that explore enigmatic phenomena and the inner nature of how we perceive sound. He recently finished his M.Mus. at McGill University and currently resides in La Jolla, CA where he is working towards a Ph.D. in composition at the University of California at San Diego with Roger Reynolds, Chinary Ung, Philippe Manoury, and Rand Steiger.
Over the last five years some of Jacob's mentors in composition have included John Rea, Denys Bouliane, Philippe Leroux, Sean Ferguson, Dan Asia, and Craig Walsh. He has also participated in master classes with Danish composer Bent Sørensen and German composer Manfred Stahnke.
During 2005-2006, Jacob was the first-ever composer-in-residence for the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble under the direction of Denys Bouliane, in collaboration with the McGill Digital Composition Studio. He has also written music for the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the Contemporary Keyboard Society, percussionist Fernando Rocha, saxophonist Elizabeth Bunt, and clarinetist Krista Martynes. As an undergraduate at the University of Arizona, he composed the music for a collaborative dance project with choreographer Hillary Peterson, and he was the principal composer and pianist for El Proyecto de Santa Barbara, a chamber Latin jazz ensemble.
During the 2005 and 2007 Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques and 2006 MusiMars festivals Jacob was an electronic assistant for performances with Court-Circuit, Matt Haimovitz, Sara Laimon, Martin Matalon, Moritz Eggert, Manfred Stahnke, the Caput Ensemble, and the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble. These concerts were broadcast by the CBC and the European Broadcasting Union in over fifty countries throughout the world. He is currently a studio research assistant for Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Roger Reynolds.
During his free time Jacob takes an active interest in religious phenomenology, cinema, acoustics, literature, poetry, and visual art. As a composer and performer, he always attempts to bring insights from these other fields into his work.
Disclaimer:
All music posted on this blog is posted out of love and the idea that for the truly great music of our time(s) to be known it must first and foremost be heard. If you like what you hear please support the artist by buying the recordings, scores, and/or encouraging the performances of the music in every way possible.
If you are the composer, performer, performing organization, artist or directly represent the composer, performer, performing organization, or artist of anything posted on this website and would like your material removed please contact me and I will happily oblige.
When I was eight and first started playing piano and composing (the two thankfully began simultaneously) my first compositional discovery was constantly repeating two to different five notes. When I first demonstrated my discovery to my teacher she laughed and said that I sounded like Philip Glass.
Because of this event, until two years ago I had never actively listened to any Philip Glass. To try and rectify this lapse in my musical education I listened to a number of Glass’s compositions from throughout his career and while I was alternatively underwhelmed by the softness of his more recent compositions I was also thoroughly impressed by the more abrasive, jarring, and direct esthetic demonstrated in earlier works like “Music in Changing Parts” and “Einstein on the Beach.”
Yesterday, to celebrate Philip Glass’s 70th birthday I listened to all of “Einstein on the Beach” at an abrasively loud volume. And, although I am sure my neighbors were probably cursing my name by the time it was over, if it wasn’t already so late I would have been willing to listen to it all again.
I was only going to post once today but - by goly - it's Steve Reich's 70th birthday and I've just got to post my favorite movement from my favorite Steve Reich piece (that is besides "Music for 18 Musicians" which should never be broken up).
I'm not going to make any broad universal claims like "Steve Reich is the greatest living composer...;" however, I will say that Steve Reich is my favorite living American composer and my favorite of all the so-called "minimalist" (or whatever you want to call the music what has followed) composers, not just because I love repeatedly listening to his music, but because unlike the many others he has made a number of large compositional transformations and developments over the years.
Happy 70th Steve Reich! I wish you many more years, many more great compositions, and maybe even some more great transformations.
