Professional Composer · Orchestrator · Storyteller
John Whitlock
Stout
Founder of Quintessentialism. Recorded by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.Top 5 finalist in the European Recording Orchestra Call for Scores.
Professional Composer · Orchestrator · Storyteller
Founder of Quintessentialism. Recorded by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.Top 5 finalist in the European Recording Orchestra Call for Scores.
Background
I write music that lands in a listener’s body before it reaches their intellect. I call my compositional philosophy Quintessentialism—the belief that formal ambition and emotional directness are not opposites. They never were.
My orchestral works have been recorded by world-class ensembles in Prague and Budapest. A security guard at a daycare listened to three sections and said she felt it in her chest. That’s the work. That’s always the work.
I’m building the audience on social media, co-founding the Northeastern University Composition Club, and writing for the millions of people who would love orchestral music if someone met them where they are.
Portfolio
Orchestral compositions recorded by premier European ensembles.
A full symphonic work recorded in Prague with one of Europe's most celebrated orchestras.
A dramatic orchestral narrative recorded with the CNSO in Prague.
An orchestral work exploring themes of extraordinary ability, recorded with the CNSO.
An orchestral exploration of the American identity, An orchestral exploration of the American identity, recorded with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra.
Recognition
“‘The Burden of Having a Superpower’ by John W. Stout demonstrates this young composer's mastery of orchestration. Powerful, muscular writing comes to the fore, juxtaposed with moments of tenderness. John captures the pain and ecstasy of being alive.
Paul K. Joyce on The Burden of Having a Superpower
“Huge symphonic work my dear John! Wonderful!!! I took time to listen to the whole piece, bravissimo!!!!
Christian Lauba French composer, championed by György Ligeti, on The Burden of Having a Superpower
Rhetorical Quintessentialism: the belief that the most perfect form of a work of art is not determined by the standards of its discipline alone, but by the completeness of the argument it makes and the truth received by the person on the other side of it.
Read the Manifesto