“Translating physical sensation (i.e. emotion) into intentional expression, whether it be delicately notated or spontaneously voiced, is my primary interest in music.”
Jasper Sussman (b. Sept 17, 1989) is a vocalist, collaborative composer, and scholar pursuing her Ph.D. in Music at the University of California, San Diego. Her current work involves discovering, archiving, mastering and composing for the myriads of expressive capabilities that the human voice possesses, and understanding these sounds musically, culturally, and anatomically. Her dissertation (forthcoming) explores the concept and implications of understanding voice as ecology and the choir as a socially-driven ecosystem.
Inspired by encounters with artists Cathy Berberian, Sainkho Namtchylak, Meredith Monk, Theo Bleckmann, Bobby McFerrin, Tanya Tagaq, Ken Ueno, Paul Botelho, FKA Twigs, and Alice Babs, Jasper has spent much of the last ten years exploring raw and vulnerable vocal timbres. In 2014, she sounded FOMA, a vocal trio dedicated to vocal exploration and somatic experimentation. In their year of activity, they curated a performance featuring Dutch composer and sound artist Jaap Blonk, were aired live on WSUM radio, and performed as visiting artists at the 2015 Art Blitz festival in Rochester, MN. In Spring of 2017, Jasper collaborated with Gateway Opera as composer-in-residence, creating her first operatic work, the politically charged drama-comedy “a Shell of a Troll,” and additionally wrote three new choral works as the Madison Choral Project’s first composer-in-residence. Her past creations span from collaborative dance pieces like “Dionysian Sea,” commissioned by choreographer Marlene Skog and featured at the World Dance Alliance—Americas in Honolulu, to orchestral works like “Baguettelle,” which received 2nd place in the Austin Civic Orchestra Composition Competition in 2014.
Jasper has recently served as Director of Choirs at Cuyamaca College, Choir Rehearsal Conductor for Voices of Our City Choir, Education Coordinator, Soloist, Contributing Composer and Core Member of Sacra/Profana, After School Teaching Artist at A Reason To Survive (ARTS), Voice Coach and Health Consultant for San Diego Children’s Choir, and Soloist for USD Choral Concerts, San Diego New Music, Solana Beach Presbyterian Church, and many UCSD events.
Jasper is an alumna of the University of Michigan (M.M.), Lawrence University (B.M.), the Atlantic Music Festival, the National Puppetry Conference, and the Brevard Music Center. She has sung professionally with SACRA/PROFANA, Gateway Opera, the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, the Crossing as Alto Vocal Fellow, and the Madison Choral Project. Her mentors include John Adams, Anthony Davis, Kevin Puts, Robert Aldridge, Sarah Hankins, Melissa Dunphy, Wilfrido Terrazas, Kristin Kuster, Stephen Rush, Joanne Metcalf, Fred Sturm, Asha Srinivasan, Phil Larson and Susan Narucki. She is a member of ASCAP, the College Music Society, and the American Composers Forum. Her works are published in the Justice Choir Songbook, by Bachovich Music Publications, and by See-A-Dot Music Publishing, Inc.
