D. J. Sparr (Donald Joseph Sparr, Jr.; born October 18, 1975) is an American composer and electric guitar soloist. Known for blending rock, jazz, and contemporary classical genres, Sparr has been praised by *Gramophone* as "exemplary" and recognized for his "boundary-erasing" style by *The New York Times*. He is celebrated as both a composer-performer and mentor, with works commissioned and premiered by major orchestras and opera companies.

Career

Memphis Composers Institute & 'Extended Play' (2024–2025)

In September 2023, Sparr joined the Memphis Symphony Orchestra as artistic collaborator, ultimately launching the Memphis Composers Institute in February 2025. As Artistic Coordinator, he led a three-day festival (February 7–9), mentoring emerging composers and premiering his viola concerto **Extended Play**, performed by violist Kimberly Sparr and the Memphis Symphony under the baton of Kyle Dickson.Sparr premiered his viola concerto ''Extended Play'' with the Memphis Symphony in 2025. As an electric guitar soloist, he has performed concertos by

Michael Daugherty Michael Kevin Daugherty (born April 28, 1954) is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American composer, pianist, and teacher. He is influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism. Daugherty's notable works include his Superman comic b ...

Kenneth Fuchs Kenneth Daniel Fuchs (born July 1, 1956) is a Grammy Award-winning American composer. He currently serves as Professor of Music Composition at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. Music Kenneth Fuchs is the first living American ...

Derek Bermel Derek Bermel (born 1967, in New York City) is an American composer, clarinetist and conducting, conductor whose music blends various facets of world music, funk and jazz with largely classical performing forces and musical vocabulary. He is the ...

Steven Mackey Steven "Steve" Mackey (born February 14, 1956) is an American composer, guitarist, and music educator. Biography As a musician growing up listening to and performing vernacular American musics as well as classical music, Mackey's compositions a ...

, and himself with New World Symphony, Alabama Symphony, and Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, among others. He has performed with ensembles such as Eighth Blackbird, New Music Raleigh, and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. His performance of ''Glacier'' for electric guitar and orchestra with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

and conductor

JoAnn Falletta JoAnn Falletta (born February 27, 1954, in Queens, New York) is an American conductor. Biography Falletta was raised in the borough of Queens in an Italian-American household. She was educated at the Mannes College of Music and The Juilliard Sch ...

was one of four concertos featured on the all-Kenneth Fuchs recording released by Naxos, which won the 2018 GRAMMY Award for

Best Classical Compendium The Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium is an honor presented to recording artists for the best compendium album in the classical music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and which was originally called the ...

. Sparr's eclectic style has been described as "pop-Romantic … iridescent and wondrous" by ''

The Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'', and as a style that "suits the boundary erasing spirit of today's new-music world," according to ''The New York Times''. ''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

'' praised him as "an excellent soloist," and the ''

Santa Cruz Sentinel The ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' is a daily newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California, covering Santa Cruz County, California, and owned by Media News Group, which is controlled by Alden Global Capital. History The paper was owned by the McP ...

'' wrote that he "wowed an enthusiastic audience … Sparr's guitar sang in a near-human voice."

Soloist & Guest Performances

Throughout 2024–2025, Sparr was featured as electric guitar soloist with the

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Buffalo, New York led by Music Director JoAnn Falletta. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Each season it ...

, performing his own compositions alongside works by

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

, and with the Greensboro Symphony in

Chris Brubeck Christopher Brubeck is an American musician and composer, both in jazz and classical music. As a musician, he mainly plays bass guitar, bass trombone, and piano. The son of jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, he joined his father and brothers ...

’s ''Double Concerto for Two Guitars''. He has also appeared with ensembles including the

New World Symphony New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

, Eighth Blackbird,

Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is an American opera company located in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1955 by German-born impresario Walter Herbert and three local Houstonians,Giesberg, Robert I., Carl Cunningham, and Alan Rich. ''Houston Grand Opera at ...

Washington National Opera Washington National Opera (WNO) is an American opera company in Washington, D.C. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performance ...

, and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. His music has been performed and commissioned by numerous ensembles, including the Washington National Opera,

(HGOco),

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO) is an orchestral music education organization in Chicago, Illinois, that was founded in 1946 to provide music education and instrumental training of the highest quality to Chicago area youth. Organization ...

, the

Albany Symphony Orchestra The Albany Symphony Orchestra is a professional symphony orchestra based in Albany, New York. Founded in 1930 as the People's Orchestra of Albany by Italian-born conductor John Carabella, the Albany Symphony is the oldest professional symphony ...

, eighth blackbird, and the Dayton Philharmonic. He is the recipient of the $10,000 Grand Prize in the orchestra category of the BMG/Williams College National Young Composers Competition, was an alternate for the 1998–99

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Recipients must be American citizens. Prizes have been aw ...

from the American Academy in Rome, and has received two BMI Student Composer Awards. Dr. Sparr is a graduate of the

Baltimore School for the Arts The Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) is a public performing arts high school located in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland, United States and is part of the Baltimore City Public Schools system. Established in 1979, The Baltimore School for t ...

and received his Bachelor of Music degree from the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition at the University of Michigan in 2003. His composition teachers include

Augusta Read Thomas Augusta Read Thomas (born April 24, 1964) is an American composer and University Professor of Composition in the Department of Music at the University of Chicago, where she is also director of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition. B ...

, Sydney Hodkinson, and

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

winners

William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...

, Christopher Rouse, and

Joseph Schwantner Joseph Clyde Schwantner (born March 22, 1943) is an American composer, educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 2002. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize. Schwantner is prolific, with many works to his cred ...

Teaching & Mentorship

Sparr remains on faculty at The Walden School's Creative Musicians Retreat and served as Artistic Coordinator for the inaugural Memphis Composers Institute in 2025. In 2025, he joined the faculty of Louisiana State University’s Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College. His previous academic appointments include Texas Tech University’s School of Music. Sparr has held residencies with numerous orchestras. From 2018 to 2020, he served as curator for the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra’s SOUND! chamber music series, programming works by contemporary American composers and performing as electric guitar soloist. From 2011 to 2014, he was the Young American Composer-in-Residence with the

California Symphony The California Symphony is a professional orchestra based at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It was founded in 1986 and is a member of the Association of California ...

, and from 2009 to 2011 he served as composer-in-residence with the

Richmond Symphony Orchestra The Richmond Symphony is based in Richmond, Virginia, US and is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia and one of the nation's leading regional orchestras. The organization includes a full-time orchestra with more than 70 musi ...

’s Department of Education and Community Engagement.

Style & Recognition

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

'' has called Sparr “exemplary,” and critics have noted his style as “pop‑Romantic … iridescent and wondrous” in ''The Mercury News'' and “boundary-erasing” in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. He was a featured soloist on the 2018 Grammy Award–winning recording of Kenneth Fuchs’s concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta.

Selected Works

Orchestral & Concerti

* ''Extended Play'' (2025) – Viola Concerto, premiered by Kimberly Sparr and the Memphis Symphony * ''Katrina'' (2016) – Concerto for Jazz Guitar and Orchestra (Arkansas Symphony) * ''Violet Bond'' (2013) – Concerto for Electric Guitar and Orchestra * ''Dreams of the Old Believers'' (2014), ''Optima Vota'' (2012), ''Precious Metal'' (2010), among others.

Opera & Vocal Works

* ''Approaching Ali'' is a chamber opera composed by Sparr, with a libretto by Mark Campbell and Davis Miller. It premiered at Washington National Opera in 2013, with subsequent performances by North Carolina Opera in 2015, and by Opera Las Vegas and Opéra Louisiane in 2023.

Discography

* Sparr was the featured electric guitarist on the 2018 Grammy Award–winning recording ''Kenneth Fuchs: Spiritualist, Poems of Life, Glacier, Rush'' with the London Symphony Orchestra and JoAnn Falletta, released by Naxos. * Recordings on labels including Innova, Naxos, Centaur, and Albany

References

External links

Official website

BMI Honors Student Composers at 48th Annual Awards: Bios

Zappa, Hendrix, art rock, disco blend into concert

Richmond Symphony Orchestra

* ttp://www.windrep.org/DJ_Sparr Wind Repertory Project
Hiss Golden Messenger and W-S Symphony collaborate for show at The Ramkat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparr, D. J. American male classical composers American classical composers American classical guitarists American male guitarists American rock guitarists Guitarists from Maryland 20th-century American classical composers 21st-century American classical composers Living people University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 1975 births