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Jacob Beranek (b. 1998) is a Wisconsin-born, New York-based composer and pianist. His compositions, inspired by a love of melody and craft, are infused with his interest in historical traditions—musical, religious, or even his Czech heritage.
Beranek served as the inaugural Composer-in-Residence of the Midsummer’s Music Festival (Door County, Wisconsin) from 2017–20. His works have been championed by the GRAMMY®-nominated ALIAS Chamber Ensemble (Nashville), Band of the Castle Guards & Czech Police (Prague), Blair Brass Quintet and Blair String Quartet (Nashville), Dolce Suono Ensemble (Philadelphia), Euterpe Quintet (Seoul, South Korea), The Gesualdo Six (London), and Wisconsin Philharmonic (Waukesha), soloists Peter Sheppard Skærved and Mimi Stillman, as well as choreographers Sidra Bell and Kannen Glanz. Mikel Toms and the Brno Philharmonic (Brno, Czechia) recorded his Pilgrimatic Overture as part of ABLAZE Records’ ninth “Orchestral Masters” album, which will be released in 2023. His work has garnered international recognition in competitions such as the American Prize for Composition, the National Federation of Music Clubs Beyer Awards, and The Gesualdo Six Composition Competition, in which he received first place for ages 21-and-under worldwide. He was the first composer at Juilliard to have music featured in the Juilliard New Dances series while still a student and was one of the winners of Juilliard’s 2022–23 Orchestra Composition Competition, with a premiere in Alice Tully Hall expected in March 2023. After receiving his Bachelor of Music in Composition from Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, Beranek is now pursuing a Master of Music at The Juilliard School as a student of John Corigliano. A dedicated scholar of Czech music, Beranek was honored by the American ambassador to Czechia in 2018 during a performance of his music in Prague Castle for the country’s centenary celebration. |
