Joseph Ott (1929 – 1990) was an electronic music pioneer and 20th Century American composer who produced over 400 works. His music covers a broad spectrum of musical media and textures and has earned several prestigious honors including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, First American composer to win first prize in the “Citta di Trieste” International Competition for Symphonic Composition, and first composer to give a full concert of exclusively electronic music at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Major performances of his works have been presented at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Stratford Music Festival, and by the National Symphony Orchestra, Trieste Philharmonic, Seattle Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the U.S.C. Chamber Choir. From large instrumental and vocal ensembles to small instrumental groups and solo works, many works contrast the traditional sounds of acoustic instruments with early electronic music and noise elements and has been described as “exciting music that moves and throbs and grabs the listener” The Washington Post, “slashing, here-and-now music” The Minneapolis Star Tribune. Ott has been described by The Washington Evening Star as “a man who has warmth and passion in his soul” and by High Fidelity Magazine as “quite obviously a name to be remembered”.

Mr. Ott held positions at George Washington University, U.C.L.A., Milton College, St. Paul Institute for Advanced Study, The Bennington Composers Conference and was Composer-in-Residence and head of the Music Composition-Theory Department and Electronic Music Studio at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas from 1971 until his death in 1990. Claude Benny Press is dedicated to preserving and promoting this important work. A catalog of work is now available on this website as well as some music, interviews and other memorabilia. I invite you to read more about Joseph Ott or contact me, Jenika Ott McGann, to share your memories of my father.