Jonathan Haek - Biography

Jonathan Haek (b. 1977) is originally from Portland, Oregon. He has earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition from the University of Washington (2007), a Music Theory Certificate from the University of Washington (2005), a Master of Music degree in Composition from the University of Oklahoma (2002), a Bachelor of Arts degree in Flute Performance from Oregon State University (2000), and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematical Sciences with a minor in Computer Science from Oregon State University (2000). Haek’s dissertation is a collection of sixteen serial works for a variety of ensembles using residue cycles of Fibonacci series modulo m as compositional tools. His article "Residue Cycles of Fibonacci Series Modulo m as Tools for Serial Composition," an examination of techniques used to compose his dissertation, has been published in the journal Perspectives of New Music 46/2 (Summer 2008). Having collaborated extensively with choreographers at the University of Washington, Haek's music has been performed at various venues in and out of the Seattle area including the Velocity Mainspace Theater, Western Washington University at the American College Dance Festival's Northwest Regional Competition, and at the University of Southern Mississippi. On the CD titled ">3" (Maritime fist glee club 2001), Haek performs free improvisation on the flute and piccolo. This recording emerged from weekly jam sessions with Christian Asplund and Michael Lee, a collaboration called >3 happening from 2000-02. Stemming from an interest in creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for exploring new musical territories, Haek has programmed a GUI which simulates a 15-stringed kithara useful for hearing and exploring Ancient Greek Tuning Systems, and another GUI which calculates residue cycles of Fib(mod m) and displays various aspects of their structure. An ongoing interest of his is in interactive and computer music composition using CSound, Max/MSP, SuperCollider, Lisp, Common Music, the Make Conroller Kit, physical sensors, and various non-linear digital editing programs. In 2011, Haek served as Lecturer of Music Theory at the University of Washington. From 2007-08, Haek served as Instructor of Digital Music at Edmonds Community College in Lynnwood, WA. From 2005-06, Haek served as Visiting Instructor at the University of Oklahoma teaching composition and a variety of music technology courses. Haek has studied composition with John Rahn, Joël-François Durand, and Christian Asplund. Currently, Haek lives in Victoria, B.C., Canada and holds the Instructor of Introduction to Music Technologies position at the Victoria Conservatory of Music.