William Joseph Susman (born August 29, 1960) is an American composer of concert and film music and a pianist. He has written orchestral and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

as well as documentary film scores.

Music

Susman's music is inspired by Afro-Cuban montuño, medieval hocket and isorhythm. In addition to performances of his music in the U.S. and Europe, his compositions have been broadcast, for example his piano concerto on WQXR, in ''New Sounds'' on WNYC, ''

Echoes Echoes may refer to: * Echo (phenomenon) Film and television * ''Echoes'' (2014 film), an American supernatural horror film * ''Echoes'' (miniseries), a 2022 Netflix original drama series * "Echoes" (''Fear Itself''), an episode of ''Fear Itse ...

'' on NPR and Concertzender. He founded the record label Belarca Records to distribute his material.

Influences

Susman's earliest orchestral works were influenced by Iannis Xenakis and György Ligeti. He is interested in algorithmic composition, following his composition teacher

Herbert Brun Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

at the University of Illinois. His microtonal compositions were influenced by Ben Johnston. He also studied piano with Pauline Lindsey (a student of Artur Schnabel), Steve Behr (pianist with

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

) and Alan Swain.

Awards

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Foundation Young Composer Award for ''Trailing Vortices'' * ASCAP Foundation Raymond Hubbell Award for ''Movement for Orchestra'' * BMI Student Composer Award for ''Pentateuch'' *

Fromm Music Foundation Paul Fromm (September 28, 1906 – July 4, 1987) was a Jewish Chicago wine merchant and performing arts patron through the Fromm Music Foundation. The ''Organum for Paul Fromm'' was composed by John Harbison in his honor. Early life Born in Kit ...

at Harvard for ''Trailing Vortices''Fromm Music Foundation archives
Susman, William
* Gaudeamus International Musicweek for ''Trailing Vortices'' * KUCYNA/ALEA III International Composers Competition for ''Twisted Figures'' * Percussive Arts Society for ''Exchanges''

Works

Orchestra *Snow Lion of Peace (2009) *Zydeco Madness: To the Forgotten of Huricaine Katrina (2006) *Angels of Light (1991) *Uprising (1989) *Trailing Vortices (1986) *Pentateuch (1984) *Openings (1982) *Movement for Orchestra (1980) Chamber ensemble *Seven Scenes for Four Flutes (2011) *Camille (2010) *Clouds and Flames (2010) * Native New Yorker (2005) *Three Different Keyboards (2001) *The Starry Dynamo (1994) *Exposé (1989) *Twisted Figures (1987) *Streamlines (1984) *For Three Trombones (1983) Wind quintet *Six Minutes Thirty Seconds (1995) Brass quintet *The Heavens Above (1998) Vocal/Choral *Salaam Alaykum, Shalom Alaychem (2011) SATB *Eternal Light (2010) SATB *Scatter My Ashes (2009) *Living These Seasons (2009) SATB & piano *Moving in to an Empty Space (1992) *Interlude (1984) *Two Songs (1983) *Elie (1983) SATB *Three Songs (1981) Percussion *Material Rhythms ''for percussion quartet'' (2010) *Amores Montuños ''for flute & marimba'' (2008) *Marimba Montuño for Joseph Gramley (2002) *Floating Falling ''for cello and timpani'' (1987) *Exchanges ''for percussion soloist and winds'' (1982) String quartet *Zydeco Madness (2006) *Patterns of Change (1997) *Up to the Sky (1988) *Streams (1984) Piano Trio Clouds and Flames (2010) Piano *Quiet Rhythms - Book IV (2013) A set of 22 piano pieces *Quiet Rhythms - Book III (2012) A set of 22 piano pieces *Quiet Rhythms - Book II (2010) A set of 22 piano pieces *Quiet Rhythms - Book I (2010) A set of 22 piano pieces *Piano Montuño (2004) *Uprising (1988) Solo and duo *Zydeco Madness ''for accordion'' (2005) *Duo Montuño ''for clarinet & piano'' (2004) *Duo Montuño ''for alto sax & piano'' (2004) *Duo Montuño ''for viola and piano'' (2004) *Motions of Return ''for flute & piano'' (1996) *For Cello (1984) *Halilah ''for viola'' (1983) *Nnyl ''for trombone'' (1983) *Turbulence ''for flute'' (1983) *Violin Study (1983) Electronic *Waves ''for piano and computer-generated sound'' (version with notated piano part) (1982) *Waves ''for Any number of improvisers and computer-generated sound'' (1982) Film music *People of the Graphic Novel (2012) *Joann Sfar Draws from Memory (2012) *When Medicine Got It Wrong (2009) *Balancing Acts: A Jewish Theater in the Soviet Union (2008) *Making the Man (2007) *Fate of the Lhapa (2007) * Native New Yorker (2005) *

Oil on Ice ''Oil on Ice'' is a 2004 documentary film directed by Bo Boudart and Dale Djerassi. It explores the Arctic Refuge drilling controversy in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the impact of oil and gas development on the land, wildlife, a ...

(2004) *Asphyxiating Uma (2002) *Deep Under the Ice (2000) aka NASA Explores Under the Ice *Daydream Believer (1998) *Alaska's Arctic Wildlife (1997) *Indonesia (1996) *The Philippines (1996) *Southern Africa Safari (1995) *Discovering the Amazon and the Andes (1994) *The Elephant Seals of Ano Nuevo (1994) *Exploring Tropical Australia (1993)

References

External links

Susman Music
- Official Website including audio files and scores *

A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange by Mark S. Tucker
William Susman
Fromm Music Foundation, Commission 1986

mckenzienewsservice.com * ttps://books.google.de/books?id=vJgJAQAAMAAJ&pg=PT111 Contemporary Directions EnsembleShort biography, University of Michigan School of Music 1987
First Dissertation Recital
Short biography, University of Michigan School of Music 9 July 1987
Native New Yorker
8th United Nations Associations Film Festival (UNAFF) 2005
Sound of Silent Film: NYC
acmusic.org
In Conversation With William Susman
Interview in The Voice Magazine, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Susman, William 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers American film score composers American male film score composers Musicians from Chicago 1960 births Jewish classical musicians Jewish American classical composers Contemporary classical music performers Living people Postmodern composers University of Illinois alumni Stanford University alumni New Trier High School alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni American male classical composers American classical composers 21st-century American composers 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from Illinois 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American Jews