Biography

Reviewers have described Randall Shinn’s music as “lyrical,” “compelling,” and “lusciously beautiful.” His compositions range in mood from witty to fiercely passionate, and reviewers have praised their expressive power, calling them “stunning” and “spell-binding.”

Shinn’s mature compositional style is grounded in the traditions of classical music, from the Renaissance to the present. Shinn has written that he likes to play with the expectations created by frameworks such tonality and social dance rhythms, and his music sometimes incorporates elements from vernacular sources such as American roots music, Latin American music, and American speech rhythms. These vernacular elements are combined with classical influences into what one reviewer called “a sound that is uniquely his.”

His orchestral music has been performed by the Phoenix Symphony, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Mesa Symphony, Flagstaff Symphony, Arizona State University, and the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies. His operas have been staged by Arizona State University, New Mexico State University, and the University of Colorado. His choral, vocal, and chamber works have been performed in the United States and Europe. He has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts (as both librettist and composer), the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and ASCAP.

Shinn began composing music as a teenager, and after completing a master’s degree in performance (French horn) at the University of Colorado in 1968 he turned his creative energy fully toward composition. He completed a doctorate in music composition in 1975 at the University of Illinois, taught for three years at the University of New Orleans, and then joined the faculty of Arizona State University. He has had composer residencies at New Mexico State University and at the University of Colorado. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 2006 to compose and write full time, and now resides in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife, visual artist Carol Shinn. As a writer Shinn has written original librettos for three operas, and is the chief correspondent for DeepGlamour.net