JACK LANGDON

is a musician, filmmaker, and writer with concentrations in experimental music, minimalist documentary, cultural criticism, and political economy.

born in 1994, enrolled in sault ste. marie tribe of chippewa indians

nindaa gichi-neyaashiing

[archive and documentation of past performances can be found here]

UPCOMING EVENTS

8.7.25

Jeff Kimmel (clarinets), Jack Langdon (bibigwan),
Stephan Haluska (harp), & Adam Shead (percussion)
Comfort Station
Chicago, IL

8.8.25

Jack Langdon (bibigwan)
Marmalade
Chicago, IL

8.21.25

Premiere of “Cheap Dream” for harpsichord by Justin Wallace
Britton Recital Hall, University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

10.12.25

Jack Langdon (bibigwan)
The Whistler
Chicago, IL

BIOGRAPHY, CV, CONTACT

Happy Life
for piano and percussion

September 2024

first performance by:
Jon Hannau, piano
Kyle Flens, percussion
Constellation, Chicago
9.7.24
score

Happy Life is a work which I wrote for the Flannau Duo in the summer of 2024. During the previous year, I increasingly found myself questioning common sense approaches to relating emotions to musical expression. This work instigated a re-examination of how musical materials—particularly those of a reduced and simple kind—can signify a stereotype of emotion, but refuse to evoke this emotion. This piece strives to make common emotive signifiers—like a major chord signifying “happiness”—unfamiliar and hollow. Accompanying this, musical materials which have no stereotype of emotional significance are placed amidst the work: groaning noises from a superball-dragged washboard, isolated jingle bell clinks, and muted dyads on a glockenspiel.

Category
Composition