John Supko

Education

• Ph.D. Princeton University, 2009
• M.F.A. Princeton University, 2005
• B.Mus. Indiana University at Bloomington, 2002

Research Interests

Called “spellbindingly beautiful” (Steve Smith, Time Out New York ), "hypnotic...eerily beautiful" (Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times ), and "fascinating" (Philip Clark, The Guardian ), the work of composer John Supko (b. 1980, NY) explores intersections: chance and intention; traditional music notation and real-time score generation; sound and spoken text; installation and performance; human and computer creativity. In recent years, Supko has been developing generative software to navigate his vast archives of field recordings, sampled acoustic and digital instruments, noise, and voice recordings. He uses this software to find unexpected compositional possibilities as well as to create dynamic sonic environments that are integrated into live performance with human musicians. Supko has also been experimenting with new forms of documentation for his music. Works such as A Free Invention for George Pitcher exist solely as software that ‘performs’ a new version of itself each time it is activated. He is a recipient of the Fulbright (2002) and Georges Lurcy (2007) fellowships, both for Paris, France, where he studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique. He has won numerous prizes and grants, among them the BMI Student Composer Award, two ASCAP/Morton Gould Young Composers Awards (including the 2008 Leo Kaplan Award), the Grand Prize of the National Young Composers Competition, the Perkins Prize of the Princeton University Music Department and a Commissioning Music/USA Meet the Composer commission. His work has been published in collaborative editions with the poet Philippe Denis by Collection Mémoires (Paris) and by Harpo & (Marseille), and has been released on the New Amsterdam and Cotton Goods labels. His 2014 collaborative album s_traits (with Bill Seaman) was named in "Best of 2014" recording lists in The New York Times and The Boston Globe . Currently Associate Professor of Music at Duke University, where he co-directs The Emergence Lab with Bill Seaman, Supko holds degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (BM) and Princeton University (PhD).

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

• Hunt Family Publication Award, Duke University, 0 2013
• Hunt Family Assistant Professorship, Duke University, July, 2012
• Invitee, "Atelier Opéra en Création", Festival d'Aix-en-Provence (France), Summer, 2009
• Finalist, Prix de Monaco, Fondation Prince Pierre, 2008
• Leo Kaplan Award - ASCAP/Morton Gould Young Composer Award, ASCAP, 2008
• Georges Lurcy Fellowship, Georges Lurcy Charitable & Educational Trust, 2007-8
• Residency, Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, France), 2007-8
• Naumberg Fellowship, Princeton University, 2003-7
• Perkins Prize, Princeton University, 2003
• Fulbright Full Grant (Paris, France), US & French Governments, 2002-3
• Residency, Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris, France), 2002-3
• Dean's Prize, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, 2000
• ASCAP/Morton Gould Young Composer Award, ASCAP, 1998
• BMI Student Composer Award, BMI Foundation, 1997
• Grand Prize (HS Chamber Music Category), National Young Composers Competition, BMG & Williams College, 1997

Teaching (Spring 2025):

• Music 273s.01, Intro to electronic music Synopsis

  Smith wrhs a228, Tu 04:40 PM-07:10 PM

• Vms 575s.01, Generative media authorship Synopsis

  Smith wrhs a268, Th 01:25 PM-03:55 PM

Teaching (Fall 2025):

• Music 275s.01, Electronic music for tv/movies Synopsis

  Smith wrhs a228, M 01:25 PM-03:55 PM

• Music 690s-1.01, Composition sem (topics) Synopsis

  Biddle 069, Th 03:20 PM-05:50 PM

Recent Professional Work:

  (More...)

• Supko, JP. How I Taught My Computer to Write Its Own Music. February, 2015 . [how-i-taught-my-computer-to-write-its-own-music]  [abs]
• Church, M; Burt, TP; Galay, VJ; Kondolf, GM. Rivers. January, 2015 (98-129 pp.). (percussion soloist & electronics; commissioned by Andrew Bliss & the University of Kentucky, Lexington) [doi]  [abs]
• Supko, JP. divine the rest. December, 2013 .  [author's comments]
• Supko, JP. A Free Invention for George Pitcher. May, 2013 . [A-FREE-INVENTION-FOR-GEORGE-PITCHER]  [author's comments]
• Supko, JP. FLESH. March, 2013 . [FLESH]  [author's comments]

   Commissions:

• new percussion quartet for Nief-Norf, Knoxville, TN, 2013 - present
  I have accepted a commission to compose an electroacoustic percussion quartet for the ensemble Nief-Norf.
• new work for flute, percussion & harp, Champagne, IL, 2013 - present
  I have accepted a commission to compose a work for percussionist Andy Miller's chamber group consisting of flute, percussion & harp.

• divine the rest, 2015/01/01
  with John Peter Supko; NOW Ensemble
• s_traits, 2014/11/04
  with William Seaman; John Peter Supko
• The Devouring Shore, 2014/01/01
  with John Supko
• Until I Plunge into the Deep, 2014/01/01
  with John Supko
• VEXED, 2012/09/01
  with John Peter Supko
• HIMALAJA, 2012/07/01
  with John Peter Supko
• I asked for names of all that is, 2012/07/01
  with John Peter Supko
• ALL SOULS, 2012/01/01
  with John Peter Supko
• NC Music Teachers Association, 2011/10/29
  with John Peter Supko
• USINE, 2011/09/01
  with John Peter Supko
• Inland Ocean, 2010/12/01
  with John Peter Supko
• Rooms, 2010/11/01
  with John Peter Supko
• Without Stopping, 2010/08/07
  with John Peter Supko
• Straits II (acoustic version), 2010/05/01
  with John Peter Supko
• This Window Makes Me Feel, 2010/02/01
  with John Peter Supko
• _, 2010/01/01
  with John Peter Supko
• Inland Ocean, 2009/11/01
  with Ciompi Quartet; John Peter Supko
• Straits, 2009/11/01
  with John Peter Supko
• Straits, 2009/07/01
  with John Peter Supko
• This River, 2009/04/01
  with John Peter Supko
• Songs of a Landloper, 2009/01/01
  with John Peter Supko
• Dream Cuisine, 2007/01/01
  with John Peter Supko
• Everybody Says Everything, 2007/01/01
  with John Peter Supko
• Littoral, 2007/01/01
  with John Peter Supko

• R!, 2012/08/01
  with John Peter Supko

• Crossed Shadows, 2024/01/01
  with John Supko
• Time Becomes Again, 2024/01/01
  with John Supko
• Rhapsody of the Double Object, 2023/01/01
  with John Supko
• The Bridge of Suns, 2023/01/01
  with John Supko
• USINE (2022 version), 2022/01/01
  with John Supko
• Desire Without an Object of Desire , 2021/01/01
  with John Supko
• ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND BILLION PIECES FOR PIANO AND COMPUTER, 2021/01/01
  with John Supko; Conrad Tao (pianist)
• Biloxi Anapanasati, 2020/01/01
  with John Supko
• Soleil Noir, 2020/01/01
  with John Supko
• Naples ultra, 2018/01/01
  with John Supko
• Score and Sound Design for "PIG FILM", 2018/01/01
  with Joshua Gibson; John Supko
• THE_OPER&, 2018/01/01
  with William Seaman; John Supko
• This Window Makes Me Feel, 2017/04/01
  with John Supko; Barbara Dickinson
• A Mystery, 2017/01/01
  with John Supko
• Broken on the Wheel of Night, 2017/01/01
  with John Supko
• Only a Visitor, 2017/01/01
  with John Supko
• Divine the Rest, 2015/01/01
  with John Supko
• Divine the Rest, 2015/01/01
  with John Supko
• L’Imitation du sommeil , 2015/01/01
  with John Supko
• s_traits, 2014/01/01
  with William Seaman; John Supko