whetstone loops (2021) was written for and premiered by Wilson Poffenberger and I cannot thank him enough for his work in helping realize this piece.

he ran the razor’s edge over again and again until it bore the shape of his life.
{this piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation}

whetstone loops (2021) uses a maxmsp patch that generates a loop of sound material (based on recorded sounds by the composer of knives, sharpening, clattering cutlery, breathing, etc.).  The performer then listens to this loop of material and replicates it to the best of their ability (timbre, rhythm, pitch, etc.). Once the loop is replicated to the controller of the patches satisfaction the controller triggers the patch to create a new loop and the process begins again.

whetstone loops (2021) - for solo instrument + maxmsp generated score

"Tooth Necklace" 
composed by: Stephen Ryan Jackson
performed by: Catchfire Collective

www.stephenryanjackson.com

gnawing || chewing || tearing || grinding || consuming
{this piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation}

Tooth Necklace takes inspiration in the act of consumption (both metaphorical and literal). The rhythms and timbres are taken from transcribing source recordings of chewing and swallowing and the resultant texture is orchestrated almost hocket-like throughout the ensemble. The unrelenting nature of the music creates this image in my mind where the ensemble functions as some imaginary creature or being that is consuming the audience.

"Tooth Necklace" was commissioned by Catchfire Collective and was performed and recorded at Tennessee Tech University on April 1, 2021.

©2021 Stephen Ryan Jackson

Tooth Necklace (2020) - for chamber ensemble [Catchfire Collective]

"like sugar in coffee...everything dissolves"
[this piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation]

"sweet particles" explores how sugar and seemingly everything else in life begins solid and concrete and over the course of time fractures, dissolves and dissipates.

CREDITS
from Mundane (works for piano), releases March 24, 2023
sweet particles - recorded by: Yifei Xu

All tracks mixed and mastered by: Tyler Bisson

sweet particles (2021) - for solo piano

Quad is based on a geometrical figure and on permutations of regular movements. First one, then two, then three, then four figures, appear one after another to scurry along the sides and across the diagonals of a square, shuffling in strict rhythm. Each figure then departs in the order in which they appeared, leaving another to recommence the sequence … " - Samuel Beckett

Quad Studies I & II takes Samuel Beckett's TV plays "Quad I" and "Quad II", and uses Beckett's processes and proportions to create duration and pitch series'. Each hand of the piano represents one of the scurrying figures in Beckett's play and traces their incessant pathways across the stage.

Quad Studies explores both the comfort and trappings of repetition and routine.
[this piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation]

CREDITS
from Mundane (works for piano), releases March 24, 2023
Quad Studies I & II - recorded by: Daniel Nerger

All tracks mixed and mastered by: Tyler Bisson
license

Quad Studies I & II (2020) - for two pianos

we lose sight of the forest amongst the trees we have felled
[this piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation]

"every swing of the axe" is a representation of the horrors we commit to our planet with a focus on deforestation. The chorus acts as an ecology of sounds within the forest, sometimes in symbiotic relationships and at other times in competition within their niche.

every swing of the axe (2022)- for chorus in 6 parts

Concrete is created by mixing a cement compound with aggregate mineral substances (such as sand and gravel) with water in order to bind the materials into a solid form which can be shaped.

Concrete is how we sublimate nature.
[this piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation]



CONCRETE was written for Kei Otake for the 2023 Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP)

Many thanks to Kei for his collaboration and dedication in bringing this piece to life.

www.stephenryanjackson.com
©2023 Stephen Ryan Jackson

CONCRETE (2023) - for solo cello

“Antrum Crepitus” composed by: Stephen Ryan Jackson performed by: Empyrean Ensemble

www.stephenryanjackson.com

antrum ('æntrǝm) n. a natural chamber or cavity within a bone or other anatomical structure.
crepitus ('krepǝdǝs) n. a grating or popping sound or sensation produced by friction between bone and cartilage.

[This piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation]

Antrum Crepitus focuses on zooming microscopically into the body, treating the inner bone as a chamber in which the audience metaphorically resides. Viewed from this scale, the slightest movement in a joint is suddenly grating and earthquake-like, the walls of the chamber rubbing against adjoining caverns. 

“Antrum Crepitus” was written for Empyrean Ensemble and was performed and recorded as part of the 2024 Taproot New Music Festival hosted at UC Davis on Feb. 11, 2024.

©2024 Stephen Ryan Jackson

Antrum Crepitus (2024) - for large chamber ensemble

"You once told me that memory is a choice. But if you were god, you'd know it's a flood."
for viola + live electronics

composer + electronics: Stephen Ryan Jackson
performer: Elsie Bae Han

www.stephenryanjackson.com

This piece takes inspiration from the novel "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" by Ocean Vuong. A confessional letter to his mother, whose understanding of the English language is limited, "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" is about processing and articulating difficult memories rather than about directly communicating them. This piece is my own version of that concept.

Many thanks to my good friend and collaborator, Elsie for bringing this piece to life.

©2025 Stephen Ryan Jackson

You once told me that memory is a choice. But if you were god, you'd know it's a flood. (2025)

DREDGE (dredʒ) v. 1. clean out the bed of (a harbor, river, or other area of water) by scooping out mud, weeds, and rubbish using a boat or special device.

v. 2. bring to attention unpleasant facts or memories that had been forgotten.

DREDGE takes two separate definitions, one physical and the other emotional. DREDGE is private, it's voyeuristic, it's ritual. 

[this piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation]


DREDGE was written for Miriam Liske-Doorandish, Adam Buttimer & Maya Stone for the 2025 Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MassMoCA

www.stephenryanjackson.com
©2025 Stephen Ryan Jackson

DREDGE (2025) - for chamber ensemble [Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival]

WRITHE ('rīth) v. to make continuous twisting, twitching, squirming movements or contortions of the body.

In WRITHE, the ensemble functions as a single large convulsing body, its collective mass and motion crushed under the weight of its own momentum. WRITHE is a study in the violent mechanics of spasm, labor, and repetition.

[This piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation]

Written for the fellows of the 2025 Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival.
Commissioned with generous support from Justus and Elizabeth Schlichting.

www.stephenryanjackson.com
©2025 Stephen Ryan Jackson

WRITHE (2025) - for large chamber ensemble [Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival]

This is the second movement of my Brass Quintet No.1. It uses an arch form to create a mirror like effect bridging the two lyrical themes. This recording is by Corpus Christi Brass Quintet

Brass Quintet No. 1 Mvt. II - Lyrical (2015)

This is the final movement of my Brass Quintet No.1. The piece makes use of harsh dissonances to create building tension without reprieve throughout the piece. This recording is by Corpus Christi Brass Quintet

Brass Quintet No. 1 Mvt. III - Harsh & Unrelenting (2015)

This is the first movement of my Brass Quintet No. 1. It is a dramatic opening movement that uses short motives to propel the piece until a final unsettling cadence. This recording is recorded by Corpus Christi Brass Quintet

Brass Quintet No. 1 Mvt. I - Driving (2015)

Rose gold is created by combining different ratios of gold, copper and other metallic alloys. The ratio of “pure” gold versus these other materials is what creates the wide variety of tones and hues you can find in rose golds. 

- rose gold - takes inspiration from this process, allowing the flutist to be the jeweler, picking the ratios of tones the audience hears resonate from within the piano. 

beauty in impurity
[this piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation]

- rose gold - was written for Leonor Javier for her graduate recital and was premiered on April 9th, 2017.

-  rose gold  - (2017) - for solo flute and sympathetic piano

"Time and I have quarreled. All hours are midnight now. I had a clock and a watch but destroyed them both. I could not bear the way they mocked me." - Susanna Clarke

Against Time was premiered by NEC musicians as part of the Tuesday Night New Music concert series.

Against Time (2017) - for chamber ensemble

"anywhere but here" is an expression of the mix of emotions that can come from being stuck in one place.

Thank you to Somin, Sasha, and Alex also known as Trio Mirage for the fantastic performance and recording.

anywhere but here (2018) - for chamber ensemble

In the summer of 2014, a few close friends and I took a camping trip to Big Bend National Park. Our campsite was situated in a deep valley away from the harsh desert surrounding the area. Lie Down, Under Stormy Nights depicts our first night in the valley. I woke up in the middle of the night to rain and thunder, yet everyone else remained asleep. The repetitive figure in this movement portrays the resting breathing of the other campers amidst the sounds of the storm.

This piece was recorded by the middle school and high school students of Florida Southern College's 2018 Summer Strings Camp, under the direction of Dr. Kira Omelchenko.

Lie Down, Under Stormy Nights (2016) - for intermediate string orchestra

Bright & Dark  //  Warm & Cool  //  Sound & Color
{ this piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation }

Sonorities was written for and recorded by my close friend Ryan Lovell and the Ball State Concert Band.

Sonorities (2017) - for concert band  [Grade IV]

in those early morning hours when everything is silent. when one feels like the only person alive, when one thinks very hard about mortality, loneliness, people, society, and love. i can feel the universe expanding.

 { this piece is meant to recreate that distinct sensation }

This piece was performed and recorded by Rose Hegele.
Artwork and accompanying video by Boy Nirvana.

i can feel the universe expanding (2018) - for voice and electronics

After slavishly following instructions or procedures without critical thought, rinse & repeat is about starting anew and breaking routine. 


rinse & repeat was written, performed and recorded as part of the 2019 New Music on the Point Festival. 

I would like to thank Erin Rogers, Annick Odom, Colin McCall & Emerson Wahl for making music out of my instructions on a page.

rinse & repeat (2019) - for chamber ensemble

This piece was commissioned and recorded by Lee Hartman and the Mid America Freedom Band and I can't thank them enough for the time and energy they put into my work.

asphyxiating sky was premiered on Mar. 1, 2020 at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, MO.


“asphyxiating sky” seeks to recreate the physical and emotional sensations of fading memories, past fears, & the horrors that humanity has and continues to inflict on itself.

When I was young, I would visit my great great-grandfather in hospice and he would entertain me with stories of his experiences during World War I. One story that often stands out in my mind is one of his accounts of fighting in the trenches, where they first came into contact with mustard gas being used as a weapon. Despite being mostly incoherent due to the drugs to keep him comfortable, he was incredibly lucid during his recount of the fear and helplessness of not being able to breathe.

The musical material of “asphyxiating sky” is based on three WWI era songs: “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to be a Soldier”, “The Rose of No Man’s Land” and “I May be Gone for a Long, Long Time”. After taking original recordings of these songs, I layered, time-stretched, and distorted them to create a sonic manifestation of a mustard gas cloud. The ensemble functions as a living, breathing, cloud of sound that is unrecognizable from its source, yet spiritually connected.

asphyxiating sky (2020)  - for wind ensemble

www.stephenryanjackson.com

This is a small online portfolio of my music. I hope you enjoy it. My email is stephenjacksoncomposer@gmail.com if you have any questions,  commissions, performance requests etc. please feel free to contact me. I'm always happy to start another project or collaboration!

Stephen Ryan Jackson

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