A b o u t
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Biography -
Jordan Nelson (he/him) is a composer and educator based in Southern California. Jordan's musical projects are often driven by collaboration, and his output ranges from abstract concert works to ambient electronic music. Jordan's recent projects have included a miniature for eight voices commissioned by Constellation Men's Ensemble (For Fear To Be), and a collection of pieces for solo piano based upon the Great American Songbook (Songbook for piano) created in collaboration with Thomas Kotcheff. An album of the Songbook project was released in 2024 titled Re/Sounding: An American Songbook for Piano.
Other notable works include a work for string quartet commissioned by the Viano Quartet (Join), a piece for classical guitar and electronics written for and in collaboration with Jack Cimo (I Dreamt I Was Underwater), and a large-scale project for soprano, string quartet, and projected images (Tender Buttons) based on poetry by Gertrude Stein, with original artwork by Morgan Thomas Shankweiler. Jordan is also a passionate educator, and in addition to teaching private composition lessons, he has served on the faculty for multiple young composer programs and workshops in Southern California. At the college level, Jordan teaches at The Colburn Conservatory of Music. He has previously served on the faculty of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the West Chester University Wells School of Music, the USC Thornton School of Music, and Yale University. Jordan earned his D.M.A. and M.M. in Composition from the USC Thornton School of Music, and he received his B.A. in Music from Yale University. Jordan grew up in Swarthmore, PA. |
