Who is Jagger Clark?
Jagger Clark combines his passion for symphonic writing with his imagination to compose and put together a world of music for all to hear and be a part of, to join on the path of many stories to share. Jagger is a native of New York City (Manhattan) and the son of two professional ballet/modern dancers. His mother raised him in the world of the arts, from listening to Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and more, to performing in Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker at SUNY Purchase College for five continuous years beginning at the age of four, starting as a mouse and working his way up to leader of the Red Soldiers. In his elementary school years, with his initiative and his mother’s support, purchased a keyboard, and began taking piano lessons.
Besides classical music, classic rock was one of the genres Jagger first began learning on piano with his teacher, Cary Brown. Only after a few months of playing, his teacher suggested Jagger audition for a new website called irocku.com. At the audition, Jagger was able to speak and play piano with the founder of the website, Chuck Leavell, the keyboardist and Musical Director for The Rolling Stones. Because Jagger was well received and chosen from the audition, Jagger remains a team member of irocku.com and can be seen in the introduction and other videos on the website.
Through years of continued practicing on the piano, Jagger’s beginning interest in composition started when he took music theory at a college level in his sophomore year of high school, under the tutelage of Stephen DiGiovanni. Now, although relatively new to the compositional world’s stage, Jagger has already made great strides. In his Senior year of high school, he had his first ever composition, “Ray of Light” performed by his school’s orchestra under the conductor, Alan Goldberg, who has brought this orchestra onto well-known stages over the years, such as Carnegie Hall in New York City. In addition to Jagger's studies on the piano, he also took a significant interest in other instruments. He began playing clarinet in fourth grade of elementary school and further pursued years of lessons with Matt Garrison. Since middle school, he has also had extensive years of drum lessons with Dave Lewitt and Rick Donato. Moreover, Jagger has won many awards, including the Eastman School of Music Award for outstanding musical accomplishment during his junior year of high school. He also performed, two years, in the New York Area All State Choir at the Performing Arts Center at SUNY Purchase College. Academic awards also include the Presidential Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence and he’s a member of the NSHSS (National Society of High School Scholars).
Jagger throughout his musical career has heavily indulged in jazz performance on the piano, having been taught by many jazz players such as Zaccai Curtis, Pete Malinverni, David Hazeltine, Mike Roninson and more. Jagger incorporates aspects of this jazz world into his compositions, adding more flavors to his musical designs. Furthermore, his Studio Composition and Production Master Class professors have been Alba Torremocha, Matthew Noble, Phil Joly and Rebecca Haviland.
Jagger graduated Summa Cum Laude from Purchase College, SUNY with a Bachelor of Music in Studio Composition and is currently enrolled in their Graduate Program to pursue his Masters in Studio Composition. During Jagger’s freshman year at Purchase, he created music for film student Emma Keating’s short film called, “The Ooze”. This film was an official selection into the Ridgefield Independent Film Festival 2020, notable for having guests such as Mandy Moore, Piff the Magic Dragon, and Ben Folds, just within the span of a few months. Jagger went on to compose for more of Emma’s films in his later years at Purchase, such as “Christmas Spirit”, and a trailer called, “Psychic Detectives”. In addition, he has worked on film student Victor Barsotti’s Junior Project, “Bruises”.
Currently, Jagger is working on his lifelong project, The Fallen King. This is not just a single book Jagger has written, but is a story, one that tells the tale of a world involved in the concept of magic and balance, how Darkness and Light, in harmony creates Balance, but in conflict, will create Chaos. Jagger has, and will continue to compose more music that pertains to particular characters, events, environments, and scenes within The Fallen King, as well as having artwork presented alongside his music. For Jagger’s Purchase College Senior Recital, he formed a symphony primarily consisting of student musicians from the Music Conservatory (Jazz Performance, Classical Performance, and Studio Composition), along with professional alumni musicians from the Music Conservatory. Artwork for specific scenes from the story he has created, were projected on a large screen behind the symphony. One of Jagger’s dreams is to one day, not only have his story published and well-received, but that his music will also follow in similar footsteps such as world icons, Hans Zimmer and John Williams.