Jelani Surpris - Composer

American Contemporary Classical Composer JELANI N. SURPRIS is a contemporary classical composer who hails from Atlanta, Georgia (USA). His musical style can be looped into numerous aesthetic genres ranging from minimalism, new simplicity, new complexity, etc. As an active voice in new music, Surpris has had the opportunity to collaborate with ensembles of incredible ability including the premiere USA- based contemporary string quartet, JACK Quartet on his piece entitled, “from total darkness”. The piece was, as described by the JACK Quartet’s violinist Austin Wulliman, “reminiscent of Lachenmann’s masterwork, Grido.” As of recent, Surpris has received commissions from major ensembles/performers and has three premieres within the 2022-2023 season. Those groups included are Castle of Our Skins who commissioned an overture for Wind Ensemble as a part of their RTMP X COOS Commissioning Project; the Schwob Philharmonic who programmed Surpris next to Mahler’s Fifth Symphony; and contemporary flute specialist Alexis Eubanks who commissioned Surpris’s work to be premiered at the University of Michigan in 2023. Upon graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Music Composition from Columbus State University, Surpris plans to pursue a dual master's and P.h.d. in Music Composition in the northeast United States or Germany.