Patrick Long is the composer of over 100 premiered works, and is an active and versatile performer. While he has written for choir, band, orchestra, chamber groups and soloists, his most distinctive work is in the idiom of "Computer Music Theater", in which unusual midi controllers, computer interactivity, performance-driven multi-media and story-telling intersect. He regularly performs full recitals of these works, and many videos can be found online.
Born in 1968 and raised in Annapolis, Maryland, he pursued drumming from a young age, and had the opportunity to play in very good rock bands throughout high school. As the drummer in a rock band, his strong creative impulses were somewhat stifled however, and so he composed his own jazz/rock fusion pieces at home using a four-track recorder, wrote short stories and made claymation films, usually without showing anyone the results of these efforts. He attended Syracuse University with the intention of pursuing percussion performance, but soon found that composing with notation was something one could major in. He then majored in composition, studying primarily with Andrew Waggoner, but also continued percussion studies with Michael Bull. His varied performing activities have always been a complement to his composing rather than a distraction. He performed three full percussion recitals at Syracuse, and also performed the Creston Marimba Concertino with the SU Orchestra after winning the concerto competition. Following Syracuse, he attended the Eastman School of Music, receiving his D.M.A in 1996. At ESM he studied composition with Warren Benson, Samuel Adler, Joseph Schwantner, Christopher Rouse and David Liptak, percussion with John Beck and computer music with Alan Schindler. It was at ESM while working as an assistant in the Computer Music Center that he was introduced to the MAX programming language, which he was used avidly ever since.
Festival performances include Musicacoustica (Beijing), International Computer Music Conferences, SEAMUS, Electronic Music Midwest, SCI National Conference, North American Saxophone Alliance National Conference, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Florida State University New Music Festival, the Indiana State University New Music Festival, the Brave New Works Festival, the Bonk Festival, International Percussion Arts Festival (Poland), Gaudeamus Competition and Festival (Amsterdam), Image, Movement, Sound Festival (Rochester) and the University of Delaware New Music Festival, among others. His work has been commissioned and performed by many prominent ensembles and soloists, including the Syracuse Society for New Music, Montagnard Duo, Corigliano Quartet, Ithaca Trombone Troup, Maverick Ensemble, Ames Quartet, Maharlika Trio, Lincoln Chamber Singers, Williamsport Symphony, South Orange Symphony, West Shore Symphony Orchestra, the Penn Central Wind Band, hundreds of percussionists and percussion ensembles, and several outstanding soloists including Davis Brooks (violin), Jennifer Blyth (piano) Thomas Burritt (marimba), and Phillip O’Banion (percussion). In 2007 Susquehanna University celebrated its Sesquicentennial with a concert at Carnegie Hall, for which he composed a 35 minute work for chorus and orchestra, conducted by Jennifer Sacher Wiley. His 2016 work Toward the Star was included on the Emmy-winning PBS program “Christmas at Susquehanna”.
He is currently Professor of Music at Susquehanna University in central Pennsylvania, where he has been fortunate to teach for 25 years. In that time he has been grateful to complete his musical education by teaching, at one time or another, twenty different courses, including applied Composition, applied Percussion, Theory I and II, Form and Analysis, 20th Century Harmonic Practice, Counterpoint, Orchestration, 20th Century Music Literature, Audio Engineering Fundamentals, Music Production in the Recording Studio, Computer Music Composition, Computer Music Performance, Introduction to Music, Rock Music and Society (online), Percussion Methods and Thought and the Arts. Composition has always thrived at Susquehanna, and there are usually about 10 student composers at any given time. Graduates of his studio have gone on to study at many prestigious places, including the University of Michigan, Princeton, USC, Syracuse University, Peabody Conservatory, UNSC, the University of Delaware, the Eastman School of Music, the University of California San Diego, Penn State and Bowling Green University.
As a percussionist he performs regularly in the orchestral and chamber realms, presents recitals of his own live electro-acoustic music, and continues to be an active practitioner of pop music with central Pennsylvania’s most imposing all-professor band, Faculty Lounge.
Recordings
New recording by the Montagnard Duo includes my Cobalt Blue for guitar and alto saxophone, which they commissioned.
Violinist Davis Brooks (with Kurt Fowler on ‘cello) just released this recording on my piece, Orbital Beacons for electric violin, electric 'cello and computer.
Well-known percussionist Thomas Burritt produced this wonderful video recording of my 2000 work Dreamscapes for solo marimba.
My work Toward the Star for choir, organ, hand bells and percussion is included on this DVD/PBS release by Susquehanna University and WVIA. The show was seen widely and received an Emmy for best direction.
Phillip O’Banion’s recording of Chaconne for vibraphone and tablet computer is included on his first CD, released by Temple University Recordings.
My own recording of Chaconne for vibraphone and tablet computer was included in the 2015 International Computer Music Conference DVD.
My first solo disc features works for electronic and acoustic percussion. It is available from CDbaby.com or itunes.
A live recording of Rain, River, Sea made during a performance at Carnegie Hall.
This recording by violinist Davis Brooks is available on itunes. It includes Shadow Steps for violin and fixed audio media.
This new CD by marimba soloist Tomasz Arnold contains my piece Smoke of the Ghost. It is available on CDbaby.
This recording by saxophonist Gail Levinsky includes my piece Barcarolle for Alto Saxophone and live electronics.
This recording of Strange Loops by the Meadows Percussion Ensemble is available from Gasparo Records.
This recording by the Radford University Percussion Ensemble features Strange Loops. It is available from Highlander Records.
This recording by marimba artist Andrew Harnsberger contains my solo marimba work Smoke of the Ghost.
My piece Ontology for electronic percussion and interactive computer music system is included on a Syracuse University Recordings.
