Long Bio
JESSE AYERS is an American composer known for his dramatic, immersive works for symphonic winds and orchestra, often incorporating narration, spatial staging, and surround-sound elements. His music has been performed across the United States and internationally in Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and throughout Europe.
Ayers was the winner of the inaugural American Prize for Orchestral Composition in 2011 for The Passion of John Brown, winner of the Opera Kansas Zepick Modern Opera Composition Competition in 2016 for Beneath Suspicion, co-winner of the Dayton Ballet “New Music for New Dance” competition in 2011 for Dance of the Mountain Raindrops. In 2020, he received the Ohio Governor’s award as Ohio’s Outstanding Individual Artist. His compositions have been featured twice at the prestigious ISCM World Music Days, representing the United States.
His concert works—such as and they gathered on Mount Carmel, Jericho, and Rahab—are known for their emotionally charged storytelling, antiphonal staging, and fusion of faith-based themes with cinematic orchestration. These pieces have been lauded by conductors and audiences alike for their ability to create unforgettable concert experiences.
Common themes in his larger works are hope, reconciliation, renewal, and restoration. Ayers holds the rank of Professor of Music Emeritus at Malone University, where he was twice awarded the school’s Distinguished Faculty Award.
Short Bio
after the premiere of RAHAB
JESSE AYERS is an American composer known for his dramatic, immersive works for symphonic winds and orchestra, often incorporating narration, spatial staging, and surround-sound elements. His music has been performed across the United States and internationally in Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and throughout Europe.
Ayers was the winner of the inaugural American Prize for Orchestral Composition, winner of the first Opera Kansas Zepick Modern Opera Composition Competition, and co-winner of the Dayton Ballet “New Music for New Dance” competition. In 2020, he received the Ohio Governor’s award as Ohio’s Outstanding Individual Artist.
Ayers holds the rank of Professor of Music Emeritus at Malone University, where he was twice awarded the school’s Distinguished Faculty Award.
About
My overarching goal as a composer is to write music that touches the human spirit, the human heart. To facilitate this, I have worked to develop a musical style that is broadly accessible without sacrificing the capacity to express depth of emotion.
Much of my music is quite dramatic and deals with core life issues: purpose, destiny, faith, overcoming adversity, courage under fire – always with the themes of hope, reconciliation, and restoration. Rahab and Beneath Suspicion are examples of these.
But some of my music is the polar opposite: music meant to be fun, cheery, with bright harmonies and energetic syncopations, pieces such as Shinkansen, The Dancing King, and Waldstein Express.
Composing is done in solitary confinement, locked away with pencil and staff paper. But the performance of the resulting music is marvelously collaborative, where I get to work side-by-side with 50, 100, even 200 highly skilled musicians who come together, in community, to focus on a single goal, that of creating a meaningful, perhaps life-altering, experience for their fellow human beings in the audience.
On many occasions, I have experienced the deep gratification of seeing audience members respond to my music with profound, heart-felt emotion, thanks to the dedication and musicianship of the conductors and performers who have brought my music to life in the concert hall.
Downloadable Hi-Res Press Photo
