BIO

     The sound world of composer/performer Tyler Jordan (b. 1997) draws from harsh noise, death metal, punk, and experimental composers of the 20th and 21st century, all coalescing into a grotesque and brutal sonic object. Tyler creates highly theatric and conceptual works that seek to create a synthesis of contradictory and schizophrenic themes through meta-musical analysis, real events, and animalistic emotion. With a combination of interactions between acoustic instruments, lo-fi electronic equipment manipulation, and found objects, new bodies are created that dismantle the wretched, rotting authority of nature. Both on the score and on stage, Tyler has clear visual and sonic aesthetics that carry from work to work, whether that be the tangled rattling of metal chains and strings, animalistic screams from voices and instruments alike, or the deconstruction and decoupling of instrument bodies. Tyler received a MM in Composition at Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University and a BM in Composition and BM in Performance for bass clarinet at Chapman University. They are pursuing a PhD in Composition at Duke University as of Fall 2023 under the mentorship of John Supko.

     Tyler has received commissions from several soloists, including Mared Jurphy, Daniel Hwang, and Evan Frangesh, who premiered MUTATION in August 2021 at OBI Studios in San Jose. Most recently, Tyler wrote SHOCK COLLAR for Marco Blaauw and EARTH IS A SLAUGHTERHOUSE for Ensemble Dal Niente. Throughout their education, they have had the opportunity to write for several ensembles, including Inverspace, Loadbang, Lyris Quartet, the Chapman Orchestra, and Chapman New Music Ensemble. Tyler's previous teachers include Du Yun, Katie Balch, Felipe Lara, Jeffrey Holmes, Dominique Schafer, Chinary Ung, Carola Bauckholt, and Simon Steen-Andersen.

     As a performer, Tyler focuses on creating sets from self-composed and improvised material. In addition, Tyler has performed many works for bass clarinet, including works by David Lang, Luciano Berio, Tatiana Gerasimenok, Vinko Globokar, Aaron Cassidy, Brian Ferneyhough, and many more. Tyler has also performed works for percussion, classical and electric guitar, found/created instruments, and electronics. They are currently pursuing further compositions and creations of complete solo sets that are suited for concert halls and DIY venues alike, such as their 2022 work WE HAVE REDUCED THE VALUE OF LIFE TO ITS RECORDS, a noise theater work for "four animals", or collaboration with Sebastian Suarez-Solis and Thomas Milovac on the iterative set of works LIVE ELECTION BINGO, which involve a mix of composition, improvisation, painting, and sculpture-making. Tyler has a solo project titled DUMB DOG which explores harsh noise and hardcore punk through a lens of queer and furry subcultures with a focus on intense, athletic performances of body modification and extensions of the human form through amplified accessories such as collars, harnesses, and more. They toured the east coast with Baltimore-based industrial hyperpop artist Dickgirl in December 2023, playing 9 shows across 10 days alongside prominent queer noise acts including Straight Panic, Gyna Bootleg, and Domesticatrix. In July 2024, they toured with Reno-based experimental noise artist Mared Jurphy.

     As a researcher, Tyler is working towards a dissertation at Duke University which looks at queer noise music in the United States through field work at festivals and shows, music analysis, and queer/affect theory.