Jason Cady
Jason Cady is a composer and librettist. He performs on pedal steel guitar and modular synthesizer. Pitchfork called him a “mod-synth mastermind…funny and engaging.” Anthony Tommasini, in the New York Times, described his video opera, I Screwed Up the Future, as “charming fantasy...drably comic and spacey.” Opera News described his opera I Need Space as “delightfully weird...hilarious, dry and detached performances made this futuristic, retro story of love and rejection endearingly poignant.” His recent opera, Candy Corn, was called “hilarious” by The Wire Magazine, and “radically enjoyable” by I Care If You Listen.
Cady’s CDs have been released on Lockstep Records and Peacock Recordings, and his podcast opera, Buick City, 1:00 AM is available on Apple Podcasts. The Brooklyn Arts Council, New Music USA, free103point9, The Casement Fund, Lighton International Artists Exchange, and the American Music Center have funded his projects. His music has been performed at Roulette, Issue Project Room, The Stone, (le) Poisson Rouge, Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, Abrons Art Center, The Flea Theater, Anthology Film Archives, CBGB’s, Tonic and many other venues in New York City and throughout the US. He has lectured on his music at New York University, New School University, Wesleyan University and Arizona State University. He has been interviewed on WBEZ, WNYC, WKCR, WPIR, KMFA and East Village Radio. NPR featured him in “The Mix: 100 Composers Under 40.” The University of Michigan Press published his essay on Earle Brown in “Beyond Notation: the Music of Earle Brown.”
Cady founded Experiments in Opera with Aaron Siegel and Matthew Welch. He is the Co-Artistic Director with Kamala Sankaram. Experiments in Opera has presented the music of over 40 composers, including Robert Ashley, Pauline Oliveros, John Zorn, Joan La Barbara, Jessica Pavone, Roddy Bottom, Mary Kouyoumdjian, and Phil Kline. He also performs in the JCC Trio with Dan Joseph and Tom Chiu.
Cady has an M.A. in composition from Wesleyan University, where he studied with Alvin Lucier and Anthony Braxton. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance from Arizona State University, where he studied composition with Richard Lerman, Harold Budd, and Daniel Lentz. He was born in Flint, Michigan and now lives in New York City. He is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.