After an extensive national search, Shenandoah Conservatory is pleased to announce that Jonathan Newman, M.M., has been selected to serve as the next director of composition and coordinator of new music. Newman will succeed Prof. David T. Little who will move to a part-time role beginning fall 2015.
Co-chair of the search committee Tom Albert, D.M.A., explained the committee’s excitement to give unanimous support to Newman by stating that he was not only a first-rate, prolific composer with a national reputation, but also someone who “is an excellent role model for our students, and will be a dynamic and creative leader for Shenandoah’s new music program.”
Newman’s works are increasingly appearing as centerpieces within premier music festivals and concerts in the United States and abroad. This summer his compositions will be featured in London at the BBC Proms (directed by Eric Whitacre) and at Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (directed by Marin Alsop). His internationally acclaimed “Blow it Up, Start Again” was recently performed by the Minnesota Orchestra, and his symphony “My Hands are a City” was highlighted at the national conference for the College Band Directors National Association.
Newman joins the conservatory not only with a wealth of experience in composition and music publishing, but also a special passion for music education. Quite uniquely, he has been commissioned by a number of public school organizations as well as professional ensembles. He is in high demand as a clinician at national orchestra and band festivals, and has served as guest composer and artist in numerous universities and music schools around the country. He holds awards from and has held residencies at multiple premier music organizations, including MacDowell Colony, American Composers Orchestra, National Band Association, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Aspen Music School, and Tanglewood Institute. As a composer, he has received commissions from many leading ensembles, ranging from Alarm Will Sound and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra to Gaudete Brass and Avian Orchestra.
Newman completed his M.M. in composition at Juilliard as a student of John Corigliano and his B.M. in composition at Boston University (summa cum laude).