Scott Unrein (born November 13, 1976) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and performer of electronic and acoustic music.

History

Early life and education

Unrein was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, United States. He was raised in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

, and attended

South Salem High School South Salem High School (SSHS) is a public high school in Salem, Oregon. It was built in 1954 as the second public high school in the city. After South Salem opened, the former Salem High School was renamed North Salem High School. History ...

graduating in 1995. He attended

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1888. The institution offers a variety of undergraduate degrees as well as five graduate programs in counseling, education, oc ...

where he studied music and theatre. He then attended

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

graduating with a master's in composition. In 2004, Unrein moved to Kansas City, MO where he attended school at the University of Missouri and pursued a doctorate in composition. While there, he taught music at

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

and

Kansas City Kansas Community College Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC) is a public two year community college in Wyandotte County, Kansas, United States. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a commission of the North Central Association and the K ...

Career

His pieces, often for small groups and unusual instrument combinations are slow and quiet, using modular cells of process-driven music. He uses a modified western graphic notation to create ambiguous and complex counterpoint between instruments and instrument groups. Often included under the category of

postminimalist Postminimalism is an art term coined (as post-minimalism) by Robert Pincus-Witten in 1971Chilvers, Ian and Glaves-Smith, John, ''A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art'', second edition (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. ...

and

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

West Coast-based composers, composer and music critic

Kyle Gann Kyle Eugene Gann (born November 21, 1955, in Dallas, Texas) is an American composer, professor of music, critic, analyst, and musicologist who has worked primarily in the New York City area. As a music critic for ''The Village Voice'' (from 1986 ...

compared his music favorably to composer

Harold Budd Harold Montgomory Budd (May 24, 1936December 8, 2020) was an American music composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles and raised in the Mojave Desert, he became a respected composer in the minimal music and avant-garde scene of Southern California ...

. From 2006 to 2011, he produced and hosted a podcast, NonPop, a radio-like program (74 total episodes) covering new music and new releases of studio albums. He has released several albums of music and has announced upcoming projects for film and television.

Discography

Solo

* ''bird-drawn in the sky of light'', (2024)

Irritable Hedgehog Music Irritable Hedgehog Music is a Kansas City-based record label, focused primarily on minimalist and electroacoustic music. History Irritable Hedgehog Music was original organized as the publishing imprint for David D. McIntire's compositions. The i ...

* ''A Rising Space'', (2018) redbirdsong workshop * ''down the sky they sing'', (2020) redbirdsong workshop

collaborations

* ''The Putney Cascade on The Putney Project, Vol. 1'', (2012)

* ''Nacre on Nat Evans: The Tortoise'', (2015) independent release

Film work

Television

References

External links

Official website

IMDb

NonPop blog

Composer/Alum David McIntire Releases New CD on His Record Label, "Irritable Hedgehog"

28th Annual New Music & Art Festival, featured composer

Associate Artist in Residence @ The Atlantic Center for the Arts

21st Century Music -- September 2000, Volume 7, Number 9 "Leading the Oregon Cheer for New Music. 26."
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unrein, Scott 1976 births Living people American male classical composers American classical composers Minimalist composers Postminimalist composers American ambient musicians 21st-century American classical composers 21st-century American male musicians