Jerome Kitzke (born 1955) is a

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 ...

who grew up along the southwestern shore of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

South Milwaukee South Milwaukee is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 20,795 at the 2020 census. Situated on the western shore of Lake Michigan, South Milwaukee developed as a streetcar suburb located south of Milwaukee. ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

History

He received his B.F.A. from the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

, and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1984. In 1992 Kitzke formed his performing group Mad Coyote. His music has also been performed by the

Milwaukee Symphony The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The orchestra performs primarily at the Bradley Symphony Center in Allen-Bradley Hall. The orchestra also serves as the orchestra for Florenti ...

, the New

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named aft ...

Ensemble, Essential Music,

Present Music The present is the period of time that is occurring now. The present is contrasted with the past, the period of time that has already occurred; and the future, the period of time that has yet to occur. It is sometimes represented as a hyperplane ...

, Earplay,

Zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' (; ; capitalized in German) is an invisible agent, force, or daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. The term is usually associated with Georg W. F ...

, Guy Klucevsek, Margaret Leng Tan,

ETHEL Ethel (also '' æthel'') is an Old English word meaning "noble", today often used as a feminine given name. Etymology and historic usage The word means ''æthel'' "noble". It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, ...

and

Kathleen Supové Kathleen Supové is an American pianist specializing in modern classical music. She has premiered the works of dozens of composers on her Exploding Piano series. Her recitals involve recitation, costume, theatrical elements such as lighting, and ...

. Kitzke has received grants from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

American Music Center New Music USA is a new music organization formed by the merging of the American Music Center with Meet The Composer on November 8, 2011. The new organization retains the granting programs of the two former organizations as well as two media progr ...

, Meet the Composer,

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

, and BMI. In 2004 and 2006 he visited the Randolph School in Wappingers Falls, New York to compose music for their shows. He even put music to Allen Ginsberg's poem ''Green Automobile'', which was included on his most recent album ''The Paha Sapa Give-Back'' (

Innova Recordings Innova Recordings is the independent record label of the non-profit American Composers Forum based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1982 to document the winners of the McKnight Fellowship offered by its parent organization, the Minne ...

, 2014). He is a quarter Persian.

Music

Chamber works

*''A Keening Wish'', narrator and ensemble *''Alone On A Hill in Grandfather Night'', mixed trio *''Breath and Bone'', accordion solo *''Haunted America'', mixed quartet *''In Bone Colored Light'', mixed sextet *''Mad Coyote Madly Sings'', large mixed ensemble *''Present Music'', large mixed ensemble *''Regina Takes the Holy Road, 3 December 1994'', mixed quintet *''She Left in the Crow Black Night'', clarinet, unac *''Teeth of Heaven'', mixed sextet *''The Big Gesture'', mixed trio *''The Character of American Sunlight'', percussion ensemble, mixed quintet *''The Earth Only Endures'', percussion solo *''The Paha Sapa Give-Back'', piano and ensemble, percussion ensemble *''The Redness of Blood'', mixed quartet *''We Need to Dream All This Again'', mixed quintet *''Winter Count'', narrator and ensemble

Vocal works

*''171st Chorus'', medium voice *''Box Death Hollow'', vocal soloists and ensemble, men's chorus and ensemble

Solo Piano

*''Sunflower Sutra'' *''The Animist Child''

Musical Theatre

*''The Paha Sapa Give-Back'' *''Woope''

References

External links

Peermusic Classical: Jerome Kitzke
Composer's Publisher and Bio
Alive and Composing: Interview with Jerome Kitzke
Musicians from Milwaukee American male classical composers 20th-century American classical composers University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Living people 1955 births People from South Milwaukee, Wisconsin Classical musicians from Wisconsin 20th-century American male musicians {{US-composer-20thC-stub