Described as “a hugely prolific musician with a wide variety of skill sets” (newmusicbuff.com), Keane Southard (b. 1987) is a composer and pianist who believes deeply in the power of music to be a catalyst for positive change in the world and change how people think, feel, and act. Proclaimed as “a terrific discovery” (Bandworld Magazine) and “highly-professional and well-orchestrated” (Portland Press Herald), his music features a wide range of styles and approaches from traditional to experimental, systematic to free, and sacred to secular, reflecting a belief that creativity is stimulated by exploring and finding value in all aspects of the spiritual and physical worlds.
Keane’s belief in the power of music to create positive change is reflected in all his musical activities. Compositions illustrating this belief include ones that advocate for nonviolence (Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Beloved Community? for Orchestral Winds), wind energy (Waltzing Dervish for Wind [powered] Ensemble), environmental conservation (An Appalachian Trail Symphony: New England), reducing waste (Mottainai for Voice and Piano), fighting climate change (Ice Melt for String Quartet), and creating positive social change (Do You Hear How Many You Are? and A Blessing of Discomfort for choir). This belief also drives his interest in music education, especially in how it can help form more compassionate and caring people. This led to an interest in Venezuela’s “El Sistema,” a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Brazil studying their El Sistema-inspired programs, and a doctoral dissertation exploring how these programs can improve their social justice outcomes by integrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy of nonviolence. As a teacher, he has taught theory and composition at Bennington College and Nazareth College, and his piano performing is devoted to hidden gems by lesser-known composers who deserve a wider audience.
An avid traveler and explorer, Keane has hiked the New England portion of the Appalachian Trail (734 miles), which inspired his Appalachian Trail Symphony: New England, commissioned by a consortium of New England orchestras, as well as an opera set on the trail that is currently in development. He also has plans to compose works inspired by his hike of The Long Trail in Vermont (273 miles), and his pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago from Lisbon, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, Spain (390 miles). His year living in Brazil resulted in Um Ano no Brasil for Flute and Strings, which traces his travels throughout the country, and was premiered by flutist Marcelo Bomfim and the Petrobras Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro. He also spent a semester studying in Italy and a month volunteering on organic farms in southern France.
KKeane has won many awards and competitions, most recently 1st Prize in the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra Third International Composer Competition (Lithuania), the Gregg Smith Choral Competition, 2nd prize in the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble Composition Competition, and 1st prize in the second Michal Kleofas Oginski International Symphony Orchestra Contest. Recent commissions have come from fivebyfive, OSSIA New Music, the Artsong Collaborative Project, and the Colorado State Music Teachers Association. He has been awarded residencies at the Copland House, Playa, and the Kimmel-Harding-Nelson Center as well as fellowships at the INK STILL WET composer/conductor workshop at the Grafenegg Festival (Austria), the American Composers Orchestra’s Underwood New Music Readings, the Intimacy of Creativity (Hong Kong), and the Bennington Chamber Music Conference. In 2016, Waltzing Dervish: The Wind Music of Keane Southard, recorded by the Northeastern State University Wind Ensemble conducted by Norman Wika, was released and hailed as a “major debut disc” and a “portrait of a prolific and optimistic young composer at the very successful beginnings of what this writer (optimistically) hopes will be a long and productive career” (newmusicbuff.com).
Keane earned his Ph.D. in composition at the Eastman School of Music, his M.M. in composition from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and his B.M. in composition and theory from the Conservatory at Baldwin Wallace University. His primary composition teachers include Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, David Liptak, Allen Shawn, Carter Pann, Jeffrey Nytch, Richard Toensing, Daniel Kellogg, Loris Chobanian, and Kenneth Girard, plus additional studies with Samuel Adler, Derek Bermel, João Guilherme Ripper, and Stephen Hartke.
Photos by Gerry Szymanski