John Mackey (composer)
John Mackey (born October 1, 1973) is an American composer of Contemporary classical music, with an emphasis on music for wind band, as well as orchestra. For several years, he focused on music for modern dance and ballet.
Background
John Mackey was born in New Philadelphia, Ohio and grew up in Westerville, Ohio, where he attended Westerville South High School. Though musicians themselves, Mackey's parents did not provide him with music lessons. His grandfather, however, taught him to read music and introduced him to computer music notation, but Mackey never formally studied an instrument. Through experimentation with programs intended for entertainment rather than education, Mackey began to compose his own music.[1] Mackey received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1995 from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Donald Erb. Mackey received a Master of Music degree from Juilliard in 1997, having studied with John Corigliano.[2][3] Mackey has stated his support for these institutions' policies of not requiring composers to perform an audition as many composers, like himself, do not play instruments. On this subject, Mackey has said, "There are obviously ways to compose music without playing a formal instrument."[1]
Mackey lived in New York City from 1995-2005, where he collaborated frequently with choreographers such as David Parsons, Robert Battle, and Igal Perry.[4] Mackey moved to Los Angeles in 2005. In April 2008, he announced on his blog his intention to move to Austin, Texas, citing that much of his income is a result of commissions and other appearances in the Texas area.[5] Then in March 2011, Mackey posted a blog to announce his move to Cambridge, Massachusetts in order for his wife to attend graduate school.[6] He currently resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Blog
Mackey maintains a frequently-updated blog at his website, where he chronicles his travels across the world. He also has a keen interest in photography, and most of his posts have at least two photos to accompany them.
Works
Orchestra
- Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night (1993)
- Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra (2000)
- Redline Tango (2003)
- Antiphonal Dances (2003)
- Under the Rug (2004)
- Wine-Dark Sea
Concert band
- Redline Tango (2005)[7] – won the ABA Ostwald Award
- Sasparilla (2005)
- Turbine (2006)
- Strange Humors (2006)[8]
- Turning (2006)
- Kingfishers Catch Fire (2007)
- Concerto for Soprano Sax & Wind Ensemble (2007) - a piano reduction is available as of 2013.
- Clocking (2008)
- Undertow (2008)
- Asphalt Cocktail (2009)
- Aurora Awakes (2009) – won the ABA Ostwald Award and NBA William D. Revelli Memorial Composition Contest
- Harvest: Concerto for Trombone (2009)
- Xerxes (2010)
- Hymn to a Blue Hour (2010)
- Foundry (2011)
- Drum Music: Concerto for Percussion & Wind Ensemble (2011)
- Sheltering Sky (2012)
- High Wire (2012)
- The Frozen Cathedral (2013)
- The Soul has Many Motions (2013)
- Night on Fire (2013), movement II of "The Soul Has Many Motions", available separately.
- (Redacted) (2013)
- Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band (2014)
- Lightning Field (2015)
- Liminal (2016)
Chamber ensemble
- Elegy and Fantasie (1989, 1991), for violin and piano
- Mood Indigo (1996), for piano and drum set
- Strange Humors (1998), for string quartet and djembe
- Damn (1998), for amplified clarinet and four percussionists
- Voices and Echoes (1999), for string quartet
- Rush Hour (1999, revised 2000), for clarinet, electric string quartet, and drum set
- Breakdown Tango[9] (2000), for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano
- Juba (2003), for electric string quartet and percussion
- Wrong-Mountain Stomp (2004), for violin, viola, and cello
- Mass (2004), for percussion ensemble
- Strange Humors[10] (2008), for saxophone quartet and djembe
- Sultana (2009), for saxophone and piano
- Strange Humors[10] (2012), for clarinet quartet and djembe
- Unquiet Spirits (2012), for saxophone quartet
- Hymn to a Blue Hour (2012), transcription of concert band work for trombone ensemble
Music for theater
- Score and songs for Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," Dallas Theater Center, 2001
Notes
- 1 2 John Mackey: The Composer... pp. 21-23
- ↑ John Mackey: The Composer... p. 28
- ↑ .profile_pic img { width:auto; height:70px; }. "Meet the Composer...". Uknow.uky.edu. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
- ↑ John Mackey: The Composer... pp. 12-13
- ↑ "Austin 78704". Ostimusic.com. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
- ↑ "NSFW Workspace". Ostimusic.com. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
- ↑ Transcription of orchestra version. Transcription by the composer.
- ↑ Transcription of chamber version. Transcription by the composer.
- ↑ "Includes an audio performance". Saintpaulsunday.publicradio.org. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
- 1 2 Transcription of string quartet version. Transcription by the composer.
Bibliography
- Meet the Composer: John Mackey with UK Bands Meet the Composer: John Mackey with UK Bands UKNow (University of Kentucky)
- John Mackey: The Composer, His Compositional Style and a Conductor's Analysis of Redline Tango and Turbine Rebecca L Philips' doctoral dissertation