Adam Shead Chicago Percussionist / Improvisor / Composer


Jack Langdon (b. 1994, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians) is an experimental composer, filmmaker, and writer. His work investigates incompleteness, indifference, mimesis, stagnation, and material brevity. He is currently devising systematic approaches to non-harmony.

As a performer, his mediums are the pipe organ and the Ojibwe wooden flute (bibigwan). The subjects of his films are the landscape, the built environment, memory, and the transmission of these things through people. His writings investigate philosophy of music and political economy of contemporary cultural production.

Jack has written works for ensembles Yarn/Wire, Schallfeld Ensemble, Fonema Consort, Ensemble Dal Niente, Talea Ensemble, Prague Quiet Music Collective, Southland Ensemble, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and Trio SÆITENWIND. His orchestral works have been performed by the Minnesota Sinfonia and St. Olaf Orchestra. He has created work together with musicians Jeff Kimmel, Olivia Shortt, Anthony Vine, Webb Crawford, Taylor Ho Bynum, Kelley Sheehan, and Weston Olencki. His work has been supported and presented by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, the Fromm Foundation, The Awesome Foundation, and the Prague City Gallery.

His recordings have been released by IMPREC, Sawyer Editions, Dinzu Artefacts, and Lobby Art Records. His written work has been published by Sound American, Cacophony, and Shred Magazine. He runs an independent record label and music journal called Empty Stage and runs a blog called Challenging Music.

He is a PhD student in Composition and Music Technology at Northwestern University. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College and Saint Olaf College. He was a Graduate Fellow at the Alice Kaplan Center for the Public Humanities in 2024 and 2025. 

Jack grew up in the unincorporated community of Keyeser, Wisconsin. He is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

"Christopher Riggs doesn’t just play the electric guitar. They deconstruct it. They strip it down to its most fundamental elements. Forget scales, arpeggios, and even standard tunings—keys and harmonies are myths, anyway. Riggs eschews these things entirely, instead dragging their guitar to the brink and inviting us to hear the results." - Chicago Reader

Composer | Sound Designer | Music Technologist | Guitarist

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