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Jack Gallagher is the Olive Williams Kettering Professor of Music at The College of Wooster (OH). He holds doctoral and master’s degrees in composition from Cornell University and the bachelor’s degree cum laude from Hofstra University. He studied composition with Elie Siegmeister, Robert Palmer and Burrill Phillips, participated in seminars with Karel Husa, Thea Musgrave and Ned Rorem, and in masterclasses with Aaron Copland and George Crumb.
In 1997 his Exotic Dances for violin and piano was nominated by the editor of American Music magazine for the Pulitzer Prize in composi-tion. The same year, his The Persistence of Memory was performed by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. In 1996 he was named Ohio Composer of the Year by the Ohio Music Teachers Association.
In Tune magazine called his Symphony in One Movement “enormously inventing.” American Record Guide said “The Gallagher alone is worth the price of this well-recorded disc." The Cleveland Plain Dealer noted that his music “evokes glowing images” and exhibits “glistening personality.” The Washington Post found his Berceuse “a treat” and “a lovely melodic and accessible work.”
Gallagher’s music has been broadcast over WGBH-FM (Boston), KUSC-FM (Los Angeles), WCLV-FM (Cleveland), WQXR-FM (New York), WNIB-FM (Chicago), WETA-FM (Washington, D.C.), WGUC-FM (Cincinnati), KING-FM (Seattle), KBPS-FM (Portland, OR), WOSU-FM (Columbus), KVOD-FM (Denver), WBHM-FM (Birmingham), KWTU-FM (Tulsa) WNPR-FM (Hartford), the Classical Public Radio Network, Contemporary Classical Internet Radio, and numerous other stations. His Berceuse has been broadcast more than 40 times over Radio Stephansdom Klassiksender, 107.3 FM, Vienna, Austria.
His compositions, including Symphony in One Movement: Threnody, The Persistence of Memory, and Proteus Rising from the Sea, are included on twelve published compact discs on the Musical Heritage Society, Capstone, Vienna Modern Masters, Summit Records, Promuse, and ERM labels.
As producer, his production for TNC Records of Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques with pianist Angelin Chang and conductor John McLaughlin Williams won a 2006 Grammy Award in the classical category “Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra.”
He lives in Wooster with his wife, who teaches piano, his daughter and son, and two cats.