D. J. Sparr

D. J. Sparr merges art-concert craft with influences from music which he grew up performing as a guitarist. For the performance of Sparr’s BMI/Boudleax Bryant Fund Commission for Eighth Blackbird, the Albuquerque Tribune wrote: “…in the sextet's piece ‘The Glam Seduction’, the 1980s rock music of Eddie Van Halen meets the instrumentation of Niccolo Paganini... The result - Paganini on coke.” Sparr’s music has been commissioned and performed by groups such as the Albany Symphony, the Berkshi...

D. J. Sparr merges art-concert craft with influences from music which he grew up performing as a guitarist. For the performance of Sparr’s BMI/Boudleax Bryant Fund Commission for Eighth Blackbird, the Albuquerque Tribune wrote: “…in the sextet's piece ‘The Glam Seduction’, the 1980s rock music of Eddie Van Halen meets the instrumentation of Niccolo Paganini... The result - Paganini on coke.” Sparr’s music has been commissioned and performed by groups such as the Albany Symphony, the Berkshire Symphony, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Band, the Los Angeles ‘Debut’ Orchestra, New Music Detroit, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the University of Washington, the Verge Ensemble, Wet Ink, and Yale University. His recent work “Precious Metal: A Concerto for Flute and Winds” was commissioned by a consortium of thirty-four colleges led by the University of Washington and featured on their 2010 tour of Japan. Premieres for 2010-11 include the Dayton Philharmonic, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the Williamsburg Symphonia, and the Amsterdam-based Hexnut Ensemble. An accomplished pick-style guitarist, Sparr performs in numerous solo and chamber engagements. He premiered Michael Daugherty’s electric guitar concerto “Gee’s Bend” with the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Italy in March 2010 and with the Alabama Symphony in March 2009. D. J. is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music (BM) and the University of Michigan (MM, DMA). His principal teachers include Michael Daugherty, William Bolcom, Sydney Hodkinson, Christopher Rouse, Joseph Schwantner, and Augusta Read Thomas. He studied with John Harbison at the Aspen Music Festival and the Oregon Bach Festival and was an Associate Artist-in-Residence under Aaron Jay Kernis at the Atlantic Center for the Arts.