Biography
Jack Body (1944–2015) studied at Auckland University, in Cologne and at the Institute of Sonology, Utrecht. During 1976–77 he was a guest lecturer at the Akademi Musik Indonesia, Yogyakarta, and from 1980 to 2010 he lectured at the School of Music, Victoria University of Wellington, now the New Zealand School of Music.
His music covers most genres, including solo and chamber music, orchestral music, music-theatre, music for dance and film as well as electroacoustic music. He also worked in experimental photography and computer-controlled sound-image installations, having received commissions from several public galleries. A fascination with the music and cultures of Asia, particularly Indonesia, was a strong influence on his music. As an ethnomusicologist his published recordings include music from Indonesia and China. One landmark publication he edited was South of the Clouds, field recordings of Prof Zhang Xingrong (Yunnan Art Institute), of instrumental music of the minorities of South West China (Ode Records, 2003).
His music has been played and broadcast widely, nationally and internationally and he was commissioned by the New Zealand String Quartet, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, NZTrio and many other groups, and wrote four works for the Kronos Quartet. Jack Body's opera Alley, based on the life of Rewi Alley, was acclaimed at the 1998 NZ International Festival of the Arts. In 2003 he was a featured composer at the Other Minds Festival in San Francisco, and in 2004 he was honoured by a Composer Portrait concert in the NZ International Festival of the Arts. He was a featured composer of the Atlas Ensemble (2004 Holland Festival), the Encuentros International Festival in Buenos Aires (2004), New Music Works, Santa Cruz, USA (2005), Neue Musik aus Neuseeland, Lübeck (2006), Art Summit Indonesia and the 4th International Music Festival, Phnom Penh (2007), and in 2008, the Beijing Modern Festival and the Cincinnati 08 Festival.
Recordings of his music include Suara (Ode), electroacoustic compositions using field recordings from Indonesia, Sacred and Profane (Ode), three large scale works for voices, Composer Portrait: Jack Body (Waiteata Music) with compositions ranging from 1968 to 2002, and Pulse (Rattle), a series of five works based on transcriptions from traditional non-Western musics. Pulse won the 2002 New Zealand Music Award for Best Classical CD.
As a musical entrepreneur he had wide experience including the organisation of a series of Sonic Circuses, 12-hour simultaneous multi-venue music marathons featuring New Zealand music. In 2002 he curated a five-concert festival of New Zealand music at the Ijsbreker in Amsterdam. For 33 years he was the editor of Waiteata Music Press, which publishes scores of New Zealand music, and he edited over twenty CDs of music by New Zealand composers.
In the promotion of the music and musicians of the Asia-Pacific region Jack Body was artistic director for the Asia-Pacific Festivals and Conferences in 1984, 1992 and 2007, ten-day events that juxtaposed traditional and contemporary music of New Zealand and its neighbours. He travelled widely in Asia, particularly Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Japan and China, and since 1981 was actively involved in the Asian Composers League, serving on its executive committee. He was the guest of numerous music festivals in Asia and arranged numerous visits to New Zealand by leading Asian composers such as Yuji Takahashi, Tan Dun, Qu Xiao-Song and Chinary Ung.
Jack Body specialised in cross-cultural composition, both in his own music as well as in his teaching. At Victoria University of Wellington he established a residency for traditional musicians to work collaboratively with composition staff and students. These guests included, from Indonesia, Agus Supriawan, Dody Ekagustdiman (both from West Java), Rafiloza bin Rafii (Minangkabau), Wayan Yudane (Bali), and, from Kalinga, north Philippines, Benny Sokkong. These residencies generated new compositions, recorded for broadcast and CD publication. In his own composition he integrated other musical cultures as in Campur Sari for Javanese musician and string quartet, and Polish Dances, for clarinet and Javanese Gamelan.
As the manager of Victoria University's Gamelan Padhang Moncar, he stimulated the creation of new compositions, which were recorded and broadcast. These included works for gamelan and piano, gamelan and orchestra, gamelan and organ, gamelan and choral plainsong etc. In 2000, to celebrate 25 years of gamelan in New Zealand, he co-organised BEAT, an International Gamelan Festival with over 100 overseas participants.
Information about Jack Body and his music for film and television can also be found on the NZ On Screen website.
Since April 2021, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington has engaged in a restorative process around the historical allegations of sexually harmful behaviours by former staff member, Jack Body. The outcome of the restorative process can be viewed here.
Composed (122)
for solo guitar, mezzo-soprano, counter-tenor and orchestra
Recordings (30)
Resources (57)
Media on demand
Performances (3)
Ashley welcomes back Andrew Beer (violin) and Stephen De Pledge (piano) for a ripper of a program...
A rich collection of works inspired by non-Western musical traditions from around the world, incl...
Ashley welcomes back __Andrew Beer (violin)__ and __Stephen De Pledge (piano)__ for one last 2019...