Sean Michael Salamon is a 19-year-old composer, singer and instrumentalist native to New Jersey. Having attended the Pingry School, he currently studies music composition at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is equally conversant in the musical languages of classical music and musical theatre, having been most influenced by Bach, Sondheim, Vaughan Williams, Bartók and William Finn.
Sean is passionate about the stage. In 2010, he co-directed a production of Finn's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (incl. musical direction). He has played leading roles in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Falsettos, The Rocky Horror Show, Rent, and Les Misèrables. Additionally, he is an Eagle Scout.
Sean is delighted when musicians perform his pieces and requests that you email him if you do this. Contact Sean at ssalamon@andrew.cmu.edu.
Works
- Sagan Meditations (in progress - 2011). Several settings of Carl Sagan quotations for unaccompanied choir.
- That Was Then (2011). Organ suite written for Joey Fala (http://www.youtube.com/user/joeyfala).
- June Dances (2011) for flute, oboe, clarinet, and piano. Celebrates and depicts the events of June 2011 in New York City.
- Premiered November 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- To be performed in Baia Mare, Romania, Winter 2012.
- Three Millay Songs (2011) for soprano and piano. Words by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
- Premiered May 2011 at the CMU School of Music, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- Four Portraits of My Friends (2011) for clarinet, bass clarinet, cello, piano and xylophone.
- Sonata for Solo Flute (2011). Integrates extended techniques for the flute.
- Premiered March 2011 at the CMU School of Music, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- Music for Hard Times: Two Women's Lives During the Great Depression (2010), an interpretive dance piece based on the interviews of Studs Terkel. For clarinet and piano.
- Premiered October 2010 at the CMU School of Drama, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Juvenilia
- "Me and My Piano" (2009), a song for voice and piano with lyrics by Caroline Zee.
- Hymntune Prelude on "Puer Nobis Nascitur" (2009) for organ.
- Premiered September 2009 in New Jersey.
- Cold Mist (2009) for oboe and piano.
- Landscape: Mont Saint-Michel (2008) for chamber orchestra.
- Variations on the Russian National Anthem (2008) for solo piano.
- Trio for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano (2008).
- Premiered August 2009 at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington.
- Performed 2010 in Houston, Texas.
- Performed April 2011 in Baia Mare, Romania.
- Performed May 2011 at the University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California.
- Scherzo for Octet (2007), clarinet, horn, bassoon and string quintet.
- Suite of Possible Incidental Music for "Robinson Crusoe" (2006) for chamber orchestra.
- Scenes from the Open Ocean (2006) for orchestra.
- Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Suite [Nihoa, Gardner Pinnacles, and Kure Atoll] (2005) for concert band.
Arrangements
- Paparazzi by Lady Gaga, TTBB (2011).
- Barely Breathing by Duncan Sheik, TTBB (2011).
- Losing My Mind by Stephen Sondheim, for baritone and piano (2011).
- Not a Day Goes By by Stephen Sondheim, for baritone and piano (2010).
- Shower the People by James Taylor, for TTBBB and piano (2010).
- Papa, Can You Hear Me? by Legrand, Bergman and Bergman, for baritone voice, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophones, piano and double bass (2010).
- Poker Face by Lady Gaga, TTBB (2010).
- The General by Dispatch, TTBB (2009).
- Viva La Vida by Coldplay, SATB (2009).
- Time After Time by Cahn and Styne, for baritone and piano (2009).
- Mystery by Hugh Laurie, [a transcription] for baritone and piano (2009).
- Baby, It's Cold Outside by Frank Loesser, SATB (2008).
- Your Smiling Face by James Taylor, TTBB (2008).
