check out the latest music :
"…totalizing use of the instrument"
- Christopher Hodges, Boston Music Intelligencer
"(While others) centered their experimentation around questions of "what" and "which," Will Stackpole's Halation Sketches dove headlong into ‘ if ’. "
- Emery Kerekes, Chamber Music America
"Lively”,”insteresting" and possessing a “savage charm”
- Zachary Woolfe, New York Times
a b o u t
In the last decade Will Stackpole has emerged as one of the most exciting new voices in American concert music. He is notable for his visionary approach to orchestral music, having won the 2019 Rudolph Nissim prize for his work fEED, along with his rich and enigmatic output for soloists and smaller groups.
His work occupies a unique space in concert music. Stackpole's sound often shapeshifts from piece to piece, depending on its themes. It is informed by an incredible variety of musical approaches, while notably avoiding adherence to any singular method. It can be aggressive and dissonant but within the same breath can become meditative and dreamlike. The result is a style and language that has been referred to by many as teetering on the edge of tonality in the most fascinating ways. This coupled with his kaleidoscopic sense of color, makes for music that is unlike much else today.
Stackpole's background in audio engineering gives his works a unique sensibility which often fuse acoustic and amplified sounds to great effect. His 2023 work Echoes in the Grain was written for two string quartets playing simultaneously on different continents. For this, Stackpole devised a method by which the amplified delay betweegroups provides the tempo for the groups and acts as a third layer of music which the performers interact with in real time.
"A constant sense of motion and… delicate mystery"
- Jarrett Hoffman, ClevelandClassical.com
"A tour de force of harmony"….
- Charles Ives Music Festival
Stackpole’s background is set apart from many of his classical colleagues. Raised in a small working-class town outside Manchester, NH with little access to the classical sphere, Stackpole began his musical life as an electric guitarist. He later studied and worked in audio engineering prior to his career as a composer.
While working in New York as a freelance orchestrator and composer for television and theater, he studied with Justin Dello Joio before enrolling at the Juilliard School for his Masters and Doctorate degrees. Stackpole quickly made a name for himself with his orchestral music, becoming the only person to ever win the school's coveted Orchestra Competition on three separate occasions.
Will Stackpole's music has been performed across the United States. His orchestral works have been performed by the American Composers Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, and the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra. In smaller settings he has collaborated with the Attacca Quartet, the New Juilliard Ensemble, Quartetto Goldberg, and the Davin-Levin Duo among many others. Recent commissions have included works for Benjamin Hochmann, Colin Davin, and Maren Rothfritz.
His work has garnered many awards including ASCAP's Rudolf Nissim Prize for conducted music, the John Eaton Memorial Composer Prize, the Gena Raps Prize, and the Arthur Friedman Prize.
In addition to composing, Stackpole has also produced many recording projects for classical musicians. Most notable among these is the 2023 album Neon & Oak released by Red Dog Ensemble. In addition to recording and producing this project, Stackpole composed a chamber symphony titled L'Abîme for the album which was recorded alongside three other new works by emerging American composers.
Stackpole lives in New York City and is a lecturer at Stevens Institute of Technology.
"…ingenious…"
- Timothy Robson, Guitars International
"…singularly cool…"
- Emery Kerekes, Chamber Music America