John Mackey - Composer
John Mackey, born October 1, 1973, in New Philadelphia, Ohio, holds a Master of
Music degree from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the
Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with John Corigliano and Donald Erb,
respectively. Mr. Mackey particularly enjoys writing music for dance and for symphonic
winds, and he has focused on those mediums for the past few years.
John has received numerous commissions from the Parsons Dance Company, as well as
commissions from the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, New York City Ballet’s
Choreographic Institute, the Dallas Theater Center, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company,
the New York Youth Symphony, Ailey 2, Concert Artists Guild, Peridance Ensemble,
and Jeanne Ruddy Dance, among many others. Recent commissions include works for
the American Bandmasters Association, the Dallas Wind Symphony, and a concerto for
New York Philharmonic Principal Trombonist Joseph Alessi.
As a frequent collaborator, John has worked with a diverse range of artists, from
Doug Varone to David Parsons, from Robert Battle to the US Olympic Synchronized
Swim Team. (The team won a bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics performing to
Mackey's score, "Damn.")
John has been recognized with numerous grants and awards from organizations including
ASCAP (Concert Music Awards, 1999 through 2008; Morton Gould Young Composer Awards,
2002 and 2003), the American Music Center (Margaret Jory Fairbanks Copying Assistance
Grant, 2000, 2002), and the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust (Live Music for Dance
commissioning grants, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2005), and an NEA grant in 2007. He
was a CalArts/Alpert Award nominee in 2000.
In February 2003, the Brooklyn Philharmonic premiered John’s work “Redline Tango”
at the BAM Opera House, with Kristjan Jarvi conducting. The Dallas Symphony, under
Andrew Litton, performed the piece in both Dallas and Vail in 2004. Mr. Litton performed
the work again in 2005, this time with the Minnesota Orchestra, and again in 2006
with the Bergen Philharmonic of Norway. Marin Alsop performed the work at the Cabrillo
Festival of Contemporary Music in the summer of 2005. John made a new version of
the work for wind ensemble in 2004 -- Mackey's first work for wind band -- and that
version has since received over 250 performances worldwide. The wind version won
the 2004 Walter Beeler Memorial Composition Prize, and in 2005, the ABA/Ostwald
Award from the American Bandmasters Association, making John the youngest composer
to receive the honor. John again received the ABA/Ostwald Award - as well as the
National Band Association's William D. Revelli Award - in 2009 for "Aurora Awakes."
John served as a Meet-The-Composer/American Symphony Orchestra League "Music Alive!"
Composer In Residence with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony in 2002-2003,
and with the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2004-2005. He was Composer In Residence
at the Vail Valley Music Festival in Vail, Colorado, in the summer of 2004, and
Composer In Residence at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in August 2005.
He has held college residencies at Florida State, University of Georgia, Georgia
State University, James Madison University, Kansas State University, University
of Kansas, University of Florida, University of Alabama, University of Arizona,
University of Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State University, Texas Tech, Ball
State, University of Oklahoma, Arizona State, Oklahoma State University, University
of Washington, University of Southern California, University of Texas, and many
others. Mr. Mackey served as Music Director of the Parsons Dance Company from 1999-2003,
and he taught at Cal State Long Beach in 2008-2009.
To entertain himself while procrastinating on commissions, John is a photography
enthusiast.
For more information on John Mackey, visit his
web site.