Jacob Cooper (composer)
| Jacob Cooper | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jacob Mauney Cooper |
| Born | 1980 |
| Genres | Contemporary classical, electronic, experimental |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, educator |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Nonesuch Records |
| Website |
www |
Jacob Cooper is an American composer from in Brooklyn, New York.
Biography
After attending Amherst College for his bachelor’s degree in both geology and music,[1] Cooper completed his graduate studies in composition at the Yale School of Music,[2] and later formed the composers’ collective Sleeping Giant with several of his classmates.[3] His works have been performed by the Calder Quartet, JACK Quartet, eighth blackbird, Minnesota Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble ACJW, NOW Ensemble, Dither Quartet, Living Earth Show, Carmina Slovenica, Mellissa Hughes, Timo Andres, Ashley Bathgate, and Vicky Chow.[4]
Cooper’s national awards include a Music Alive Residency Award from New Music USA,[5] a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters,[6] and a Morton Gould Young Composer Award from ASCAP.[7] He was also the winner of the 2011 Carsblad Music Festival Composers’ Competition[8] and has been hailed by the New York Times as "richly talented"[9] and by The New Yorker as a "maverick song composer."[10]
Also dedicated to teaching and scholarship, Cooper has served on the faculty at Amherst College[11] and authors program notes for Carnegie Hall.[12] He currently teaches at West Chester University.[13]
Works
Cooper’s largest projects include Timberbrit, an opera that imagines Britney Spears’ last concert and reunion with Justin Timberlake,[14] and Silver Threads, a song cycle for voice and electronic track, to be released by Nonesuch Records in April 2014.[15] These works highlight Cooper’s focus on slow development and the stretching of musical time.[16] Many of Cooper’s compositions involve live processing and electronics, and his interest in the digital realm extends to visual media: his video series Triptych was screened at the 2012 MATA Festival,[17] and his piece Commencer une autre mort was shortlisted for the Guggenheim exhibit YouTube Play: A Biennial of Creative Video (2010).[18]
Compositions and Projects
Opera
- Timberbrit (2008, revised 2010) for male vocalist, female vocalist, guitar, keyboard, drumset, and laptop
Orchestral / large ensemble
- Serenade (2013) for 2 vocalists and 16 instrumentalists
- Stabat Mater Dolorosa (2009) for string orchestra and 4 amplified voices
- Odradek (2006) for full orchestra
Chamber
- Cast (2014) for chamber ensemble
- Agitated, stumbling, like an endless run-on sentence (2011) for cl, bsn, tpt, tbn, perc, vln, db
- bad black bottom kind (2011, rev. 2013) for string quartet
- Cello Octet (2010)
Solo (and solo with electronic track / laptop)
- Silver Threads (2011–13) song cycle for voice with electronic track
- La Plus Que Plus Que Lente (2013) for piano with laptop
- Arches (2012) for cello with laptop
- Clifton Gates (2011) for piano with laptop
- Alter Ad Alterum (2011) for accordion with laptop
- Not Just Another Piece for Solo Bass Drum (2005)
Video
- Triptych:
- Commencer une autre mort (2010)
- Black or White (2012)
- Alla stagion dei fior (2012)
Discography
- Silver Threads (Nonesuch Records, release in April 2014) with Mellissa Hughes, soprano
References
- ↑ "American Music Series: Jacob Cooper". Yale University Library. Yale University. June 16, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Timberbrit, opera by Jacob Cooper ’10MMA, at Incubator Arts Project". Yale School of Music. Yale University. November 8, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Sleeping Giant Composers Collection receives Music Alive residency". Yale School of Music. Yale University. June 14, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Music by Jacob Cooper featured in Nov. 7 recital". Yale School of Music. Yale University. October 22, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "2013 Music Alive Residency Awardees". New Music USA. New Music USA. June 14, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "The Charles Ives Awards". Arts and Letters. Arts and Letters. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "The ASCAP Foundation Names Recipients of the 2007 Morton Gould Young Composer Awards". ASCAP. ASCAP. April 12, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Carlsbad Music Festival 2011, Sept. 23-25 / Festival Moves to Village of Carlsbad / Composers Competition Winner Announced" (PDF). Carlsbad Music Festival. Carlsbad Music Festival. April 12, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Corey Dargel and Jacob Cooper". New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Unraveling: New Songs by Corey Dargel and Jacob Cooper". The New Yorker. The New Yorker. January 7, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Pop-Star Tragedy". Amherst Magazine. Amherst College. Spring 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Mahler Remixed–Fennesz". Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Hall. February 27, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Music Theory, History, and Composition : Faculty - West Chester University". www.wcupa.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ↑ "'Timberbrit': Opera Tackles The Trials Of Britney". NPR Music. NPR. August 4, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Nonesuch Releases Jacob Cooper’s Label Debut, "Silver Threads," Featuring Soprano Mellissa Hughes, April 29". Nonesuch. Nonesuch Records. March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "Jacob Cooper Finds Grace in Diaphanous Slow Motion". Q2 Music. WQXR. April 28, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "April 20: Signs and Signals". MATA Festival. MATA Festival. April 20, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ "YouTube Play: Introducing the Shortlist". Guggenheim. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. September 20, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2014.