Jon Deak

Composer-in-Residence Jon Deak was for many years Associate Principal Bassist of the New York Philharmonic. His work, ”The Headless Horseman," was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1992. He founded the Very Young Composers, a national award-winning program, whereby Public School children, age 9 – 13, composed their own music for the New York Phil and Colorado Symphony (where he was Composer-in-Residence). Mr. Deak's compositions have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, Chicago, National, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Seattle, New Jersey, Atlanta, Colorado, and other symphony orchestras. Mr. Deak has been an outspoken environmental advocate and performed his solo work “B.B. Wolf, an Apologia” before Congress in defense of wolves. An avid wilderness mountaineer, he has led climbing expeditions into the Canadian Rockies, Alaska, and the Himalayas.