The Stonewall Chorale Names Jake Landau Inaugural Composer-in-Residence

New three-year residency will expand The Chorale’s commitment to commissioning and amplifying LGBTQIA+ voices

Jake Landau, The Stonewall Chorale's inaugural Composer-in-Residence

The Stonewall Chorale has named New York-based composer and lyricist Jake Landau as its inaugural Composer-in-Residence, launching a new three-year initiative dedicated to the creation and performance of contemporary choral music and the amplification of LGBTQIA+ artistic voices.

The program begins as Stonewall Chorale celebrates its 50th Anniversary Season and represents a new investment in developing repertoire that reflects the Chorale’s identity, history, and evolving artistic vision. During each year of the residency, Landau will compose a new SATB choral work specifically for The Stonewall Chorale to premiere. The ensemble will also perform selections from his existing catalogue.

Landau will work closely with Artistic Director Nicholas Sienkiewicz and the Chorale’s Repertoire Committee throughout the residency, including in the identification of texts and themes, development of new works, and opportunities to engage singers directly in the compositional process.

“New music gives a choir the extraordinary opportunity to participate in creating something that did not exist before,” said Sienkiewicz.

“Jake is a tremendously imaginative composer whose work draws from classical music, theater, and a range of contemporary influences. I’m excited for our singers to build a meaningful artistic relationship with him over the course of the residency.”

The Composer-in-Residence program advances a commitment that has been part of Stonewall Chorale’s mission since its founding: creating space to amplify LGBTQIA+ voices through music. In addition to generating new works for the Chorale, the residency is intended to contribute new repertoire to the broader choral canon and establish a sustainable framework for The Stonewall Chorale to commission and support composers in the years ahead.

Jake Landau, born in 1995, is an American composer whose work spans contemporary classical music and musical theater. His music has been performed by the New York Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera, and Broadway performers in venues including Carnegie Hall, Birdland Jazz Club, and the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.

He studied composition at The Juilliard School with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Corigliano and later earned a master’s degree with First Class Honours from Oxford University. His work reflects an unusually broad musical background encompassing contemporary classical composition, musical theater, opera, popular music, Early Music, and queer performance spaces.

Landau is the youngest-ever recipient of the Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and has been recognized by the New York Festival of Song as one of its “9 under 34” composers. He is a member of the Extension Division faculty at Juilliard, and his work is published by Just a Theory Press, G. Schirmer, and Edition Peters.

The multi-year residency will allow Landau to build a deeper relationship with the ensemble over time, shaping new work through sustained collaboration with the Chorale and its singers. Following Landau’s inaugural three-year term, The Stonewall Chorale plans to open the Composer-in-Residence selection process to emerging LGBTQIA+ composers through a no-cost application process. The Chorale’s Artistic Director and Repertoire Committee will lead the selection of future residents.

“The Stonewall Chorale’s 50th anniversary gives us an opportunity to not only celebrate our legacy, but to think intentionally about what we want to make possible for the next 50 years,” said Emily McSpadden, President of the Stonewall Chorale Board of Directors.

“This composer residency allows us to work with Jake in shaping the future of LGBTQIA+ choral music. It expands our choir's impact beyond a single concert by giving other groups the opportunity to perform these works and share in the art we love.”