John Stannard

John Stannard (b. 1956) began music study at age 4. By age six he created his first instrument- a banjo, crafted from rubber bands and a wine box.

"At the time, I was on a tight budget."

In 1980, he formed OM, a percussion factory. Endorsers included many noted jazz and film composers. In 1985, he founded J W Stannard Company, a manufacturer of harmonically tuned wind chimes. One of their product lines – "Song of Life" – raised over $50,000 for breast cancer and AIDS charities in its first year.

The manufacturing process led the composer toward the study of overtone-based scales.  In 1999 John sold the companies to pursue study at Mannes College of Music in New York. He continues study with special interest in microtonality.

"I'm especially interested in alternate chordal hierarchy. These natural scales yield a different affect versus the equal tempered scale. Consonance is sweeter yet they allow grinding dissonance."

A wind quintet commissioned by MICROFEST is scheduled for premier March 28 2004.

The composer owns a collection of several hundred instruments including over 70 Gongs. The bronze sheets heard on Mannequins were made by the composer.