Isaac Santos – composer
bio
Welcome to my website!
My name is Isaac Santos and I am a composer of contemporary concert music. Much of my current output is inspired by nature, existentialism, and everyday life. Through the creation of my musical work, I hope to communicate feelings and emotions buried deep in the cacophony of modern life; feelings and emotions we seldom have time to acknowledge, or understand. I believe that it is through grappling with them head-on– both musically and extra-musically– are we able to better understand ourselves, each other, and the world around us.
To further elaborate…
Nature:
…is one of the final remaining, tangible things that is entirely real and free of posture (the other probably being everything represented by the term ‘love’.) Nature directly informs my approach to form and structure: the gnarly twisting and turning of the tree’s branches and the way they reach into the sky, the blooming and blossoming of flora, ripples in water that gently dissipate, her organic symmetry… oh musical she can be! I often enjoy taking long walks in a local garden not for the percolation of ideas, but for how grounded and real she makes me feel. I strive to replicate this phenomenon in my work.
Existentialism (and other adjacent philosophies):
…have forced me to wrangle with my insecurities and develop a far more empathetic disposition. I am particularly interested in how we as humans internalize, and externalize our lived suffering (and trauma by extension.) In my process of composing a piece, all that ails me from within is externalized through sound. But instead of a gratuitous exhibition of grief and despair, I aspire to transform all that turmoil into something ‘beautiful’. A beautiful that reminds us that we are never alone. Perhaps not the ‘beautiful’ in an aestheticized Kantian sense, but a beauty that recognizes the shared experience between all of us; how we live our lives day-to-day.
While it is rather uncustomary to write a biography in first-person, it is the only way I feel I can authentically represent myself and what I do. That said, I am still well in my youth and learning new things everyday. It could be in a few months time, that I have an altered outlook on my craft.
My teachers have included Stephen Hartke, Elizabeth Ogonek, Jesse Jones, Michael Frazier, Jihyun Kim, Juri Seo, Dmitri Tymoczko, and Nathalie Joachim- all of whom I love dearly, as they have continued to support me and advocate for my music. I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, in the spring of 2023. Before coming to Oberlin, I studied privately for half a year with composer Andrew Boss. I currently reside in Princeton, New Jersey, where I am pursuing my PhD in Music Composition.
02 – 17 -2024
selected works
alone II – for clarinet and piano (2023-24)
to be performed by Aaron McDonald, in April of 2024.
idleness – for viola and piano (2022-23)
performed by Solomon Leonard on viola, and myself on piano.
oberlin night sketches – for clarinet and percussion (2022-23)
performed by Juan Pedro Espinosa Monteros on clarinet, and Aidan Marckel on percussion.
early spring rains in the valley – for solo violin (2020-21)
performed by the lovely Geneva Lewis in collaboration with Musaics of the Bay. Artwork by Wendy Goldberg.
monologó navideño – for low vocal quintet (2023-24)
performed by Gallincantus, under direction of Gabriel Crouch.
alone I (originally Solitary Wolf I) – for solo cello (2019/ rev. 2022)
performed by Miles Reed.
moon seen through leaves – for chamber orchestra (2021-22)
[2(picc.).2.2(B.cl.).2.2.2.0.0.perc.hrp.str.]
performed by the 2022 Lakes Area Music Festival Orchestra in Brainerd, Minnesota under the direction of conductor Christian Reif.
gallery
photo credits: Tanya-Rosen Jones Photography 2021; myself.
Isaac Santos 