Jan

Artist Bio

Jan Swafford, Encounter leader

Jan Swafford is a composer and writer with degrees from Harvard and the Yale School of Music. His work has been played around the United States and abroad by ensembles that include the symphonies of Indianapolis, St. Louis, Harrisburg, Springfield, and the Dutch Radio. He has been a Mellon Faculty Fellow at Harvard and is an honorary member of Harvard’s Phi Beta Kappa Society. As a music journalist and scholar, he has written for Slate, the Guardian, and Gramophone, among others. He has written program and liner notes for the symphonies of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Detroit, and San Francisco and the Metropolitan Opera. His prize-winning books include biographies of Charles Ives, Brahms, Beethoven, and Mozart. His website is janswafford.com.

2024–2025 Music@Menlo Appearances