Jordan Jenkins is an American composer focused on creating unique, powerful concert music that weaves different styles and genres into a single coherent narrative.
Originally from Apple Valley, MN, Jordan's first forays into music consisted of playing songs on his plastic guitar and picking at notes at the piano whenever he could. Growing up primarily self taught as a musician, Jordan first caught the composing bug in the 8th grade when his band director gave him an old copy a music notation software, and has been composing and arranging ever since.
Jordan has written a diverse catalog of music ranging from full orchestra to wind ensemble to string quartet to art song, and also done arrangements for jazz band, string quartet, and a cappella ensemble. His music has been performed on numerous recitals and concerts, as well as read by groups such as the Ciompi quartet and the Zeitgeist ensemble. Jordan's wind ensemble piece "Ontogenesis" was performed and toured by the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Wind Symphony after winning its composition competition, and his orchestra music has also been performed by the UWEC Symphony Orchestra. His recently composed chamber opera, “The Blind Date,” was developed in
collaboration with the Roosevelt University Opera Department and will be staged and performed this fall as part of their OperaFest in Fall 2016. Jordan has also participated in various summer festivals including the Atlantic Music Festival and the Source Song Festival.
Jordan recently completed his master's degree in composition at Roosevelt University - CCPA, where he studied with Stacy Garrop and Kyong Mee Choi. He holds a bachelor's degree in Composition from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, where he studied with Chia-Yu Hsu. He has also studied with Libby Larsen.
In addition to composing, Jordan also is an avid conductor. He has conducted his own works as well as the works of composers such as Darius Milhaud, Vincent Persichetti, and Ronald Lo Presti, and was recently the assistant conductor for Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. Jordan also finds a great love in performing music frequently on double bass and piano, and also enjoys playing guitar and French horn. As well as performing solo repertoire, Jordan regularly plays in many ensembles, including the Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra, the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Jazz Ensemble 1, and plays regularly with jazz combos and other popular music groups around Eau Claire and Minneapolis.
In his free time, Jordan enjoys reading books, watching Netflix, spending time with his friends and family, biking around the great city of Chicago, and just generally lounging around, preferably with his cat Pipsqueak.
