Joshua Jandreau
With music described as “dreamlike” by the Portland Press Herald, composer, songwriter, recording artist, and teacher Joshua Jandreau (he/him) creates multimedia art that reframes traditional thinking and fosters personal connections. His music ranges from the traditional to the experimental, freely associating genre, aesthetic, and medium.
Recent projects include: a piece for 8–12 pianos honoring composer Elliot Schwartz performed at the Portland Conservatory of Music in Portland, Maine; Blague Fantastique, a 90-minute work that mixes performance art, music, and audience interaction to explore the culture of expectation; And I’ll call you by mine, a sound-reactive light installation with live electronics and acoustic performers, commissioned by the Boston New Music Initiative for their 10th season; QU4RT3T 4 TH3 N3W M1LLEN14L for string quartet, fixed electronics, and mannequin arms that explore commercialism and consumer culture.
Jandreau’s been has been premiered, performed, and recorded across the United States, Australia, Switzerland, and Germany by artists and ensembles such as the Grammy-nominated Imani Winds, members of Fifth House Ensemble, the Boston New Music Initiative, Black Sheep Contemporary Ensemble, Sonic Liberation Players, duo membranophōn, Resinosa Ensemble, the Yakima Symphony Chamber Orchestra, the Atlantic Festival Orchestra, Grammy-nominated cellist Amanda Gookin, and Grammy award-winning hornist Andrew Pelletier to name a few.
As a recording artist, Jandreau’s alter-ego AO GRYVE (pronounced “A-Oh Greev”) is a genre-bending artist, self-described musical misfit, and explorer of the human condition. An anagram of “Voyager”, AO GRYVE explores the human experience with a personal, authentic, and adventurous sound that bounces from Iron & Wine to Radiohead fusing folk, electronic, and art-pop music with experimental sensibilities.
An active educator, Jandreau teaches piano in the greater Boston area, maintaining a private studio of 40 students. He has been awarded several grants for educational and community outreach, has partnered with charity organizations and led successful crowd–funding campaigns to donate instruments and music to schools, and is an active advocate for arts education, being selected as a guest speaker for the 2016 Arizona Music Educators Association Conference held in Phoenix, Arizona.
When not writing music, Jandreau is a winemaker and wood craftsman.