Assistant Department Head, Composition & Songwriting
jack.dubowsky@mcnallysmith.edu
Jack Curtis Dubowsky is a prolific composer, writer, educator, and filmmaker. Dubowsky has scored five independent feature films, composed music for television and advertising, as well as choral, instrumental, and orchestral concert music. His research publications include articles on film music and popular music. Dubowsky is author of one U.S. patent. Recent publications include “The Evolving ‘Temp Score’ in Animation” in Music, Sound, and the Moving Image (Liverpool University Press). His own short films have screened at the British Film Institute and festivals worldwide.
Major musical works include the socio-political chamber opera Halloween in the Castro, and an oratory with orchestra, Eisenhower Farewell Address. Dubowsky’s choral music has been performed internationally by groups including San Francisco Choral Artists, Desert Voices, Resounding Harmony, Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, and Mount Eden Chorus. His orchestral music has been performed by Castro Valley Chamber Orchestra. His chamber music has been performed by Classical Revolution, Snopea Chamber Ensemble, Organic Sound Experiment, Collaborata, and Paradigm Brass. Dubowsky has received grants from Meet the Composer, Zellerbach Family Fund, Friends of San Francisco Public Library, Queer Cultural Center, National Queer Arts Festival, Grants for the Arts/Hotel Tax Fund, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Foundation, and the American Composers Forum.
The Jack Curtis Dubowsky Ensemble combines acoustic instruments, electronic hardware, composed material, and structured improvisation. The Ensemble has appeared at chamber concert series, new music series, and alternative performance spaces nationwide, and has presented programs of live music to experimental film. The Ensemble has three albums and a Pandora station.
In the recording industry, Dubowsky worked with producers and artists including Roger Troutman, Van Dyke Parks, Max Norman, Bob Rock, Metallica, Richard Perry, Bob Ezrin, Eliot Goldenthal, and Jerry Harrison. Dubowsky produced recordings by Glen Meadmore, the Virgin Whore Complex, and others. His award-winning “Mr Jones” parody is a highlight of Momus’ album Stars Forever. Dubowsky has an extensive background in film post-production. He worked at Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope post facilities. At Pixar Animation Studios, Dubowsky was assistant Music Editor and Temp Sound Effects Editor. He has screen credit on Monsters, Inc, and Toy Story 2.
Dubowsky’s sheet music is available through Sheet Music Plus and Theodore Front Musical Literature. Library holdings of his works are cataloged on WorldCat; his scores are held in many academic libraries. Dubowsky is a fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Dubowsky serves on the editorial board of The Soundtrack, published by Intellect Press.