About Jack Ford
Jack Ford, (b. 2000, Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a composer and clarinetist, specializing in the bass clarinet. While residing in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Ford earned a B.M. in Music Composition and a Fine Arts Administration Certificate from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in the Spring of 2022. Currently, he is working on a M.M. in Music Composition from Belmont University in Nashville, TN.
Photo Credit: Erica Hiller
During Jack’s growth as a composer, he’s had his works performed since the age of 14. While studying at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, he studied under awarding-winning composer Dr. Chia-Yu Hsu. He was awarded as a winner of the 2021 International Clarinet Association “Claireidoscope” Composition Competition for his solo clarinet piece Ode to the Chickpea. He has not only had the privilege to have many of his other works performed in recitals, but his works have been premiered by Idyllic Reeds as well as the UWEC Wind Symphony, including Un Siècle d’Eau Claire, commissioned to open the UWEC 100th Anniversary Concert Band Season (2022-2023).
During his undergraduate, he was a Section Leader for the Blugold Marching Band, President and Director of the Blugold Athletic Band, and performer and orchestral arranger for the music department’s Cabaret Showcase, where he was awarded for Best Orchestral Arrangement in 2022. He has performed soprano, alto, and bass clarinet in the UWEC Wind Symphony, has subbed in for the UWEC University Symphony Orchestra, and performed on bass clarinet in the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra.
His most notable performance experience was with his reed quintet, Idyllic. In the Spring of 2022, they were awarded winners of the UWEC Band Concerto Competition, having been the second reed quintet and first undergraduate reed quintet to perform Dr. Roshanne Etezady’s Storm Warning with the UWEC Wind Symphony.
Currently, as he studies composition, theory, and orchestration, he continues to write and arrange for reed quintet, concert band, and other variations of ensembles. Ford is now working on his Master’s in Music at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.