# Jay Schwartz

Jay Schwartz (born June 26, 1965) is an American composer.

## Early life

Schwartz's father was a professional boxer before becoming a swimming pool maintenance worker in San Diego, where Schwartz was born. His mother was a kindergarten teacher. Schwartz began playing the piano at a young age and taught himself composition. He studied music at Arizona State University, graduating in 1989. He pursued musicology in Tübingen, Germany.

## Career

From 1992 to 1995, he worked in the archives at the Staatstheater Stuttgart, Germany. Schwartz was initially employed as a manual laborer, then as an archivist, and later as an assistant composer for incidental music.
In 2000, he received the Bernd-Alois-Zimmermann-Prize for composition from Cologne, Germany. He is also a three-time recipient of the Strobel Fellowship for electronic music from the Südwestrundfunk.
In 2014, he was awarded a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, and in both 2017 and 2018 he received the Rome Prize for a residency at the Villa Massimo in Rome. In 2019, he was a fellow at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Italy.
His works are published and represented by Universal Edition in Vienna, London, and New York.

## Works
### Orchestral works

* Three Pieces for Orchestra (2001)
* Orchestral Suite, Incidental Music to "Werther: Sprache der Liebe" (2003)
* Music for Orchestra I (2005)
* Music for Orchestra II (2007)
* Music for Voices and Orchestra (2008)
* Music for Orchestra III (2010)
* Delta – Music for Orchestra IV (2014)
* Querendo Invenietis – Music for Orchestra V (2016)
* Tonus – Music for Orchestra VI (2019)
* Credo – Music for Orchestra VII (2022)
* Theta – Music for Orchestra VIII (2023)
* Passacaglia – Music for Orchestra IX (2024)

### Instrumental works

* Music for Saxophone and Piano (1992)
* Music for Vibraphone and Electronics (1993)
* Music for Piano (1994)
* Music for 3 Stringed Instruments and Piano, Incidental Music to "Die Möwe" (2001)
* Music for Five Stringed Instruments (1997)
* Music for Two Saxophones and Two Double Basses (1998)
* Music for Piano, Violin and Double Bass (2000)
* Music for Cello (2000)
* Music for 6 Stringed Instruments, Boy Soprano and Harpsichord, Incidental Music to "Triumph der Liebe" (2001)
* Music for 12 Cellos (2002)
* Music for 5 Stringed Instruments, Incidental Music to "Werther: Sprache der Liebe" (2003)
* Music for 17 Stringed Instruments (2003)
* Music for Chamber Ensemble (2006)
* Music for Eight Double Basses (2007)
* Music for Flute (2007)
* Music for Violin, Cello and Piano (2007)
* Music for 13 Cellos (2007)
* Music for Five Stringed Instruments II (2009)
* Music for Three Stringed Instruments (2011)
* M for Baritone and Ensemble (2013)
* Lament for Voice and Saxophone Quartet (2013)
* Music for String Quartet (2016)
* Music for Cello (2019)
* Lament for Voice and Saxophone Ensemble (2019)

### Vocal works

* Music for Six Voices I (2006) Music for Six Voices II (2007)
* Music for Six Voices III (2008)
* Zwielicht for Mixed Choir, Three Trombones and Organ (2012)
* In Paradisum for Mixed Choir, Two Violoncellos, Two Double Basses and Organ (2018)

### Music theater

* Narcissus & Echo, chamber opera (2003)

### Sound installations

* Music for a Bridge (2000)
* Music for Electromagnetic Piano (2000)
* Music for Autosonic Gongs I (2001) Donaueschingen
* Music for Autosonic Gongs II (2002) International Music Conference Sweden
* Music for Autosonic Gongs III (2002) Stadthaus Ulm
* Music for Autosonic Gongs IV (2002) Akademie der Kuenste Berlin
* Music for Autosonic Gongs V (2003) City of Kaiserslautern
* Music for Autosonic Gongs VI (2003) Saint Gereon Cologne
* Music for Autosonic Gongs VII (2003) Festival Schichtwechsel Industriekultur Saar
* Music for Autosonic Gongs VIII (2005) Homunculus Tanztheater - Semper Depot Vienna
* Music for Autosonic Gongs IX (2007) Documenta Kassel XII – Music Board Saint Martin
* Music for Autosonic Gongs X (2008) Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik
* Music for Autosonic Gongs XI (2017) Villa Massimo Rome
* Music for Autosonic Gongs XII (2018) Villa Massimo Rome
* Music for Autosonic Gongs XIII (2019) Gropius Bau Berlin
* Music for Autosonic Gongs XIV (2021) Music Hall Cincinnati