William Joseph Susman (born August 29, 1960) is an American composer of concert and film music and a pianist. He belongs to the generation of American composers that came of age in the late twentieth century and received traditional academic training while remaining thoroughly engaged with popular music (in his case, jazz). 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. At Brown's recommendation, he received a commission from the Fromm Music Foundation. For his Fromm commission he composed Trailing Vortices (1986) for chamber orchestra which had performances at the Aspen Music festival as well as the Alicante and Gaudeamus music festivals both conducted by Ernest Bour. Trailing Vortices was inspired by photographs found in An Album of Fluid Motion by Milton Van Dyke. He then applied the acoustical concepts of Shepard tones and the studies of Jean Claude Risset to create an "aural translation" of trailing vortices.
Discovered by seminal American composer Earle Brown who recommended Susman for a Fromm Music Foundation commission.
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Won best documentary short at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival for Native New Yorker (2005) which he scored and produced.
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Won the Percussive Arts Society Award for his work Exchanges (1982) for winds, brass and percussion solo.
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Won the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard commission subsequently composing Trailing Vortices (1986) which premiered during Fromm Week at the Aspen Music Festival.
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Won the BMI Young Composers Award for Pentateuch (1983/84) which caught the attention of seminal composer 'Earle Brown'.
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Won the ASCAP Raymond Hubbell Award while an undergrad at the University of Illinois for his work Movement for Orchestra (1981)
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Won at the KUCYNA International Composers Competition with a performance of Twisted Figures (1987) with 'Theodore Antoniou' conducting.
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Won an ASCAP Grant to Composers Award for his chamber orchestra work Trailing Vortices (1986) which was soon thereafter performed in Europe at the Gaudeamus and Alicante Music Festivals with Ernest Bour conducting.
Composer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Game Day
2016/I
completed
Innocent Creep
2013
Short
People of the Graphic Novel
2012
Short
Joann Sfar Draws from Memory
2012
Documentary
When Medicine Got It Wrong
2009
Documentary
Balancing Acts: A Jewish Theater in the Soviet Union
2008
Documentary short
Making the Man
2007
Short
Fate of the Lhapa
2007
Documentary
Native New Yorker
2005
Short
Oil on Ice
2004
Documentary
Asphyxiating Uma
2002
Deep Under the Ice
2000
TV Movie documentary
Daydream Believer
1998
Short
Alaska's Arctic Wildlife
1997
TV Movie documentary
Indonesia
1996
TV Movie documentary
The Philippines
1996
TV Movie documentary
Southern Africa Safari
1995
TV Movie documentary
Discovering the Amazon and the Andes
1994
TV Movie documentary
The Elephant Seals of Ano Nuevo
1994
Video documentary short
Exploring Tropical Australia
1993
TV Movie documentary
Super Solvers: Challenge of the Ancient Empires!
1990
Video Game
Music Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Game Day
2016/I
musician: piano / orchestrator / score producer completed
Another Way of Living: The Story of Reston, VA
2015
Documentary composer: additional music
When Medicine Got It Wrong
2009
Documentary musician: piano / orchestrator
Balancing Acts: A Jewish Theater in the Soviet Union
2008
Documentary short musician: piano / orchestrator - uncredited
Making the Man
2007
Short musician: prepared piano / orchestrator
Fate of the Lhapa
2007
Documentary musician: instrumental solo / orchestrator
Oil on Ice
2004
Documentary musician: instrumental solo - uncredited / orchestrator - uncredited
Alaska's Arctic Wildlife
1997
TV Movie documentary musician: instrumental solo - uncredited / orchestrator - uncredited
Super Solvers: Challenge of the Ancient Empires!
1990
Video Game music orchestration
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Balancing Acts: A Jewish Theater in the Soviet Union
2008
Documentary short producer
Native New Yorker
2005
Short producer
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
WE: A Collection of Individuals
2012
performer: "The Work" / writer: "The Work"
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
2008
Gold Medal for Excellence
Park City Film Music Festival
Best Impact of Music in a Documentary - Artistic Excellence
Fate of the Lhapa (2007)
2007
Seahorse Award
Moondance International Film Festival
Film Score
Fate of the Lhapa (2007)
2006
Gold Medal for Excellence
Park City Film Music Festival
Documentary: Jury Choice - Best Impact of Music
Oil on Ice (2004)
2006
Gold Medal for Excellence
Park City Film Music Festival
Short Films without Dialogue or "Silent" Short Films: Audience Choice - Best Impact of Music
Native New Yorker (2005)
2006
Gold Medal for Excellence
Park City Film Music Festival
Short Films without Dialogue or "Silent" Short Films: Jury Choice - Artistic Excellence