Biography

Full Bio:

George Papajohn (b. 1998 Milwaukee) is a composer, improvisor, and multi-instrumentalist currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His recent work engages with latent tensions of identity held within the material, historical, and phenomenological aspects of sound.

At age eight, George began to study the clarinet and started composing soon after. However, it was a 2013 performance of Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia that cemented his interest in pursuing new music. Growing up, he performed in the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra where many of his works were performed. In 2017, George cofounded an electroacoustic improvisation ensemble. His music has been performed by Ensemble Dal Niente, Nicholas Isherwood, Hinge Ensemble, the Eco Ensemble, the Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble, and by frequent collaborators Cameron Roberts and Julia Ansolabehere (Garden Unit Duo.)

George earned his B.M. in music composition at the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music where he studied with Alex Mincek, Hans Thomalla, and Jay Alan Yim. He is currently pursuing a PhD in music composition at the University of California, Berkeley.