Described as “a listening experience fraught with imagery” that is both “severe and cinematic” and filled with “a general sense of hope” (CVNC, 2021), the music of composer and double bassist Steve Landis emphasizes extreme contrasts within musical materials and encourages a collaborative relationship between the score and performer. His work synthesizes the craft of Western art music and the energetic DIY spirit of underground punk and metal traditions through the integration of improvisation, performance space, and atmosphere. As a composer invested in telling the stories of our contemporary lived experiences, Landis’s music often strives to create non-linear or surrealistic narratives through a variety of mediums, including solo instrumental, mixed chamber groups, large ensembles, digital and mixed media, as well as film and theater. His works have been performed across the U.S., England, Ireland, Spain, The Netherlands, and Colombia.
Steve is the winner of the Black Bayou Composition Award, Best Award for Creative Scholarship by the Interior Design Educators Council, UMKC Gerald Kemner Prize for Orchestral Composition, and is a recipient of residencies at the Millay Colony, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and Wildacres Artist Retreat. He has received commissions from the Eastern Music Festival, Albany Symphony Orchestra (Ga.), New Music on the Bayou Festival, Avimimus Duo, Wyvern Afinado Guitar Orchestra (UK), Posthuman Theatre and the London Butoh Dance Company, Four Horseman Quartet, and a consortium led by tubist Chris Combest and Cimarron Publishing.
Steve’s works have been performed by the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra, University of South Dakota Symphony, Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, Gainesville Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, South Carolina Youth Symphony, Trio Chymera, The Curiosity Cabinet (NYC), Sounding Board, Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, DePaul University Trumpet Ensemble, UNCG Tuba Ensemble, UMKC Wind Ensemble, and the PLUS-1 Quartet.
In addition to his freelance work, Steve is Part-time Lecturer at The University of North Carolina Greensboro where he teaches orchestration, applied composition, and computer music. Steve also serves as instructor of double bass and composition at the Music Academy of North Carolina. He is a founding member and double bassist for the eclectic new music group Winnfield Quartet, a section member of The Raleigh Symphony Orchestra, and electric bassist for the rock band, The Nonprofits.
Steve earned his DMA in Composition at The University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, an MM in Composition from The University of North Carolina Greensboro, and an MM in Double Bass Performance and a BM in Composition from The University of Florida.