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Jonathan Santore, composer, Plymouth
 Jonathan Santore earned his Ph.D. in Music from the University of California, Los Angeles, his Master’s of Music from the University of Texas at Austin, and his Bachelor's of Arts in Music from Duke University. Currently, he is Professor of Music Theory and Composition and Chair of the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance at Plymouth State University, and Composer in Residence with the New Hampshire Master Chorale. His awards and honors include New Hampshire Composer of the Year, New Hampshire Music Teachers Association; American Composers Forum winner for “Welcome Christmas!”; and Best of New Hampshire in 2008 from New Hampshire Magazine for New Hampshire Master Chorale. He has multiple publications through Yelton Rhodes Music, Alliance Music Publications, Gold Branch Music and American Carill on Music Editions. Santore has been commissioned for compositions by local, national, and international organizations. This will be Santore’s first State Arts Council Fellowship.
“My primary goal as a composer is communication – passionate, urgent communication. I’m willing to work in whatever genre, with whatever materials, to make that communication possible. I was fortunate to come of age in the first post-war generation of composers for whom the question “Tonal or Atonal?” was NOT the most important aesthetic decision they would make – I’m interested in sincere, direct engagement with the music I hear, in whatever style or tonal language, and I hope that performers and audiences find that in my work."
“Since moving to New Hampshire almost 15 years ago, the bulk of compositional opportunities given to me have involved the use of text. I’ve always felt a particular connection with prose and poetry. While I acknowledge the fact that musical setting of a text results in a new and different artistic work from the original, I am careful in my settings to treat those original texts with the greatest respect, doing everything possible to ensure that the author’s original words are expressed clearly and completely, whatever the emotions I express around and about them might be.”
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Santore
Last
updated:
September 9, 2009
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