William Susman


William Joseph Susman is an American composer of concert and film music and a pianist. He has written orchestral and chamber music as well as documentary film scores.

Music

Susman's music blends isorhythm and hocketing with montuño and clave rhythms in a fusion that combines both the complexity of Western classical tradition and the syncopation and polyrhythms of Afro-Cuban music. In addition to performances of his music in the U.S. and Europe, his compositions have been broadcast, for example his piano concerto on WQXR, in New Sounds on WNYC, Echoes on NPR and Concertzender.
He founded the record label Belarca Records to distribute his material and the work of other living composers.

Influences

Susman's earliest orchestral works were influenced by Iannis Xenakis and György Ligeti. He is interested in algorithmic composition, following his composition teacher Herbert Brun at the University of Illinois and John Chowning at The Center For Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University. His microtonal compositions were influenced by Ben Johnston. He also studied piano with Pauline Lindsey, Steve Behr and Alan Swain.

Awards

Orchestra
  • In A State of Patterns
  • Piano Concerto
  • Snow Lion of Peace
  • Zydeco Madness: To the Forgotten of Hurricane Katrina
  • Angels of Light
  • Uprising
  • Trailing Vortices
  • Pentateuch
  • Openings
  • Movement for Orchestra
Chamber ensemble
  • The Heavens Above for Two Brass Quintets
  • Seven Scenes for Four Flutes
  • Camille
  • Clouds and Flames
  • Native [New Yorker |Native New Yorker]
  • Three Different Keyboards
  • The Starry Dynamo
  • Exposé
  • Twisted Figures
  • Streamlines
  • For Three Trombones
Wind quintet
  • Six Minutes Thirty Seconds
Brass quintet
  • The Heavens Above
Vocal/Choral
  • Facing a New Normal
  • Salaam Alaykum, Shalom Alaychem SATB
  • Eternal Light SATB
  • Scatter My Ashes
  • Living These Seasons SATB & piano
  • Moving in to an Empty Space
  • Interlude
  • Two Songs
  • Elie SATB
  • Three Songs
Percussion
  • Haskalah for marimba and organ
  • Material Rhythms for percussion quartet
  • Amores Montuños for flute & marimba
  • Marimba Montuño for marimba
  • Floating Falling for cello and timpani
  • Exchanges for percussion soloist and winds
String quartet
  • String Quartet No. 6: Isolation Songs
  • String Quartet No. 5: Dancing on Air
  • String Quartet No. 4: Zydeco Madness
  • String Quartet No. 3: Patterns of Change
  • String Quartet No. 2: Up to the Sky
  • String Quartet No. 1: Streams
Piano Trio
  • Clouds and Flames
Piano
  • Loud Harmonies - Book I A set of 22 piano pieces
  • Quiet Rhythms - Book IV A set of 22 piano pieces
  • Quiet Rhythms - Book III A set of 22 piano pieces
  • Quiet Rhythms - Book II A set of 22 piano pieces
  • Quiet Rhythms - Book I A set of 22 piano pieces
  • Piano Montuño
  • Uprising
Solo and duo
  • Zydeco Madness for accordion
  • Duo Montuño for clarinet & piano
  • Duo Montuño for alto sax & piano
  • Duo Montuño for viola and piano
  • Motions of Return for flute & piano
  • For Cello
  • Halilah for viola
  • Nnyl for trombone
  • Turbulence for flute
  • Violin Study
Electronic
  • Waves for piano and computer-generated sound
  • Waves for Any number of improvisers and computer-generated sound
Film music
  • Game Day
  • People of the Graphic Novel
  • Joann Sfar Draws from Memory
  • When Medicine Got It Wrong
  • Balancing Acts: A Jewish Theater in the Soviet Union
  • Making the Man
  • Fate of the Lhapa
  • Native New Yorker
  • Oil on Ice
  • Asphyxiating Uma
  • Deep Under the Ice aka NASA Explores Under the Ice
  • Daydream Believer
  • Alaska's Arctic Wildlife
  • Indonesia
  • The Philippines
  • Southern Africa Safari
  • Discovering the Amazon and the Andes
  • The Elephant Seals of Ano Nuevo
  • Exploring Tropical Australia