William Joseph Susman (born August 29, 1960) is an American composer of concert and film music and a pianist. He has written orchestral and chamber music as well as documentary film scores.

Music

Susman's music blends isorhythm and hocketing with montuño and clave rhythms in a fusion that combines both the complexity of Western classical tradition and the syncopation and polyrhythms of Afro-Cuban music. In addition to performances of his music in the U.S. and Europe, his compositions have been broadcast, for example his piano concerto on WQXR, in New Sounds on WNYC, Echoes on NPR and Concertzender. He founded the record label Belarca Records to distribute his material and the work of other living composers.

Influences

Susman's earliest orchestral works were influenced by Iannis Xenakis and György Ligeti. He is interested in algorithmic composition, following his composition teacher Herbert Brun at the University of Illinois and John Chowning at The Center For Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University. His microtonal compositions were influenced by Ben Johnston. He also studied piano with Pauline Lindsey (a student of Artur Schnabel), Steve Behr (pianist with Louis Armstrong) and Alan Swain.

Awards

Works

Orchestra Chamber ensemble Wind quintet Brass quintet Vocal/Choral Percussion String quartet Piano Trio Piano Solo and duo Electronic Film music