Composers » C » John A. Celona (San Francisco, CA, USA, 1947)

John Celona studied music composition at San Francisco State (BMus, MA), University of Pittsburgh (Mellon Doctoral Fellow), Indiana University and UCSD (PhD) where he was affiliated with the Center for Music Experiment. His teachers include Henry Onderdonk, Iannis Xenakis and Kenneth Gaburo. He also played tenor saxophone in the SF jazz scene, created his own quartet while sessioning with such artists as Carlos Santana, Sun Ra and Coltrane’s bassist Raphael Garrett. As an experimental music director, he founded the new music ensemble, the Networks Orchestra. His compositions project timbral and spatial music for acoustic ensembles and real-time computer music performance. John Celona’s work has led to performances in 20 countries and includes a 1985 first prize award in the Bourges Electroacoustic Competition for Possible Orchestras (at the 21st Harmonic) and a 1972 first prize in the New York BMI Awards for orchestral and choral compositions. His music is recorded on several CDs.

[Composer’s website, 2008]

• Web site