updated 9 September 2008
© Philippe Gontier

Jason Eckardt

American composer born 17 May 1971.

Born in the United States in 1971, Jason Eckardt played guitar in several rock and jazz bands before hearing Webern’s music for the first time, an experience that immediately inspired him to become a composer. From the beginning, his music was influenced by his interest in the complexity of perception, virtuoso perforamance, and self-organizing processess in nature.

His work has been performed in the world’s major international festivals (including the Festival d’Automne in Paris, ISCM World Music Days, Voix Nouvelles, Musica Nova, and the Darmstadt Festival) and broadcast on the radio (by the BBC, Saarlandisches Rundfunk, Radio Socioculturelle, WKCR, the Australian Broadcasting Company, WBAI, and Cultura FM Espana).

Recordings of his work include Tango Clandestino by pianist Amy Dissanayake, Tangled Loops by saxophonist Nathan Nabb, and Trespass by piano soloist Marilyn Nonken with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, conducted by Tim Weiss.

Eckardt is an active promoter of contemporary music, and to this end co-founded and directs Ensemble 21 in New York City. Ensemble 21 rapidly gained wide renown for its innovative programming and the quality of its performances. It has premiered more than thirty pieces and has recorded with labels such as CRI and Mode.

Jason Eckardt holds a doctorate in composition from Columbia University and graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1992, where he was awarded the Richard Levy Scholarship. He has taken master classes with Milton Babbitt, James Dillon, Brian Ferneyhough, Jonathan Harvey, and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and has taught at Columbia, Illinois, New York, Northwestern, and Rutgers Universities, the Oberlin and Peabody Conservatories, and is currently on the faculties of the Graduate Center and Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.

Awards and Honors
  • League of Composers/ISCM (National Prize), The Netherlands
  • Aaron Copland Fund, New York
  • Symposium NRW Prize , Deutschen Musikrat-Stadt Wesel, Germany
  • New York State Council on the Arts
  • American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP)
  • Martirano Prize, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA
  • Rapoport Prize of the Alice M. Ditson Fund, Columbia University, USA

© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 2008

Sources

Site de l’ensemble 21 (voir ressources documentaires).

Bibliographie

  • Jason ECKARDT, « Devenir », dans L’étincelle n° 1 - le journal de la création artistique à l’Ircam, Editions Ircam-Centre Pompidou, Paris, novembre 2006, p.14-15.

Discographie

  • Jason ECKARDT, After Serra, Tangled Loops, A Glimpse Retraced, Polarities, dans « Out of Chaos », Marilyn Nonken (piano), Taimur Sullivan (saxophone soprano), Ensemble 21, dir. Jeffrey Milarsky et Paul Hostetter, CD Mode, 2004, B00023P47E.
  • Jason ECKARDT, Echoes’ White Veil dans « American Spiritual » (avec également des œuvres de Milton Babbitt, Michael Finni, Jeff Nichols), Marilyn Nonken, piano, cd CRI, 2001, B00005JY5X.
  • Jason ECKARDT, Multiplicities dans « Multiplicities » (avec également des œuvres de Henry Cowell, Chris Dench, James Dillon, Brian Ferneyhoughetc.), Nancy Ruffer (flûte), cd Metier, 2003, N° B00009YX6U.
  • Jason ECKARDT, Transience dans « Ritual Protocol » (avec également des œuvres de Kevin Puts, Kenji Bunch, Tsuneya Tanabe, David Fedele etc.), Makoto Nakura (Marimba), cd Helicon-Kleos, 2006, KL5116.
  • Jason ECKARDT, Sweet Creature dans « So Long, Thanks… » (avec également des œuvres de River Guerguerian, Eric Moe, David Cossin, Arthur V. Kreiger, Michael Lipsey), Michael Lipsey, cd Capstone, 2006, CPS-8773.

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