Benevolence Define: Bill Susman

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Bill Susman

William Joseph Susman, born August 29, 1960 in Chicago, is an American composer of concert and film music as well as an accomplished pianist. He belongs to the generation of American composers that came of age in the late twentieth century, received traditional academic training while remaining thoroughly engaged with popular music (in his case, jazz),[1] and who went on to establish careers for themselves outside the academic establishment. Susman has written orchestral and chamber music for concert performance, as well as documentary film scores.

His first major work and earliest recognition was for Pentateuch for soprano, three choral groups and divisi orchestra which caught the attention of Earle Brown at the BMI awards in 1985.[2] At Brown's recommendation, he received a commission from the Fromm Music Foundation. For his Fromm commission he composed Trailing Vortices