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 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 WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that ...

, '' Echoes'' on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

and

Concertzender The Dutch public broadcasting system ( nl, Nederlands publieke omroepbestel) is a group of organizations that are responsible for public service television and radio broadcasting in the Netherlands. It is composed of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroe ...

. He founded the record label Belarca Records to distribute his material.

Influences

Susman's earliest orchestral works were influenced by

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde c ...

and

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century ...

. He is interested in algorithmic composition, following his composition teacher Herbert Brun at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. His microtonal compositions were influenced by Ben Johnston. He also studied piano with Pauline Lindsey (a student of

Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-American classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th centur ...

), Steve Behr (pianist with Louis Armstrong) and Alan Swain.

Awards

* ASCAP 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 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 (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 The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance is an undergraduate and graduate institution for the performing arts in the United States. It is part of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The school was founded by Calvin Brainerd ...

1987
First Dissertation Recital
Short biography,

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