John Drumheller

One of the ways I like to describe music is that it is the conscious use of sound, or silence, for expression. When I began thinking of music in this way it opened up a whole universe of beautiful sonorities, whether it was the din of a busy city street or the lonely whisper of the wind, high on an alpine ridge. Listening deeply to the world around me is a crucial part of the compositional process and has a significant effect on my music, both acoustic and electroacoustic. Having lived most of my life in the American west has also had a significant effect on how I approach my compositions. I am very inspired by the many wild places that I have explored. The high peaks, the southwestern desserts, and even the wide open prairies with their sad, abandoned little towns, have been a part of my aesthetic and spiritual experience and as an artist I wish to be able to share some of what has inspired me.

As a teacher of composition, I feel very strongly that my students should learn how to express themselves in their own, unique voices. This expression can be emotional, formal, ironic, or many other things. It is very important for me to create, in my studio, an environment that fosters a sense of freedom and exploration while also making sure that the nuts and bolts of the craft of composition are addressed. I will never force an aesthetic point of view on my students and am open to exploring a wide range of processes and styles. At the end of the day, I hope that my students will come away with the realization that sound is cool.

A little about myself:

I was born in Boulder, where my father was finishing up a PhD in physics. We then moved to Zurich, Switzerland, living there for several years. It was during this time that I started hearing music in my head, a kind of weird blend of late Beethoven and Wagner. We then moved to Bozeman, Montana, where my father took a position at Montana State University. Living in Bozeman was wonderful. We skied, hiked, camped, and climbed mountains. As a teenager I learned how to rock and ice climb as well as back country ski. We sped around the region in beat up cars traveling to the Tetons, Colorado, and anywhere else we could get to with out worrying our parents too much. Following high school (which I don’t really remember…) I entered MSU as a music major where I studied trumpet. I also continued my exploration of the mountains, joined the ski patrol, and got buried several times by avalanches. In school I focused on learning how to play and compose jazz. I was also an active performer was the principal trumpet in the Intermountain Opera Association, performed in Bob Hope’s “band”, play in the Ice Capades, and many other gigs. (The strangest was playing Taps at a military funeral in minus forty degrees. In these temperatures, the physics of the instrument changes radically!) During my college days the music in my head had changed to a strange mash-up of Varése, Webern, and Crumb. While I continued to compose jazz tunes, I also began to explore other ways of expressing myself and one thing led to another and I applied to CU for the masters program (the awesome rock climbing in Eldorado Canyon had a lot to do with moving to Colorado). After a while I found myself with a DMA in composition and good job as a bartender. I soon got a call to teach composition at CU as a sabbatical replacement, and like a Kirby vacuum salesman, once my foot was in the door, I never left…

I feel lucky and blessed in my current position. I have been able to present my music around the world, have made wonderful friends from all over the planet, and have been able to study at fascinating places like CCRMA at Stanford. My colleagues in the composition department are wonderful and supportive and it is the best environment for creativity I have ever seen.

I don’t have an iPod (I gave one to my son) but I don’t really need one as the music in my head just doesn’t stop. Right now it is a mixture of the sound of rain falling through the sky, the deep, low frequencies of the rubbing of the tectonic plates, and the Lez Zeppelin cover of Whole Lotta Love. Sound is cool.