Susumu Watanabe
Visiting Assistant Professor of Music
Dr. Susumu Watanabe, composer, arranger, conductor and educator, is a native of Nagoya, Japan. He is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Whitman College and directs Whitman College Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble II.
He holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Composition from Berklee College of Music, a Master of Fine Arts in Composition from Queens College, City University of New York, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Jazz Composition from University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
He has been serving as a music director for many ensembles and orchestras including Fenway Brass Art Orchestra, Tokyo Brass Art Orchestra, Bay Colony Brass, UARK Festival Jazz Orchestra, and Ozark Jazz Philharmonic. He appeared as a guest conductor for the U.S. Army Field Band Jazz Ambassadors and Vermont Jazz Center Big Band.
His compositions and arrangements are performed in the U.S., Taiwan, and Japan. His composition “With All Sails Set for Wind Orchestra” won the first prize and was chosen to be a contest piece for the All-Japan National Symphonic Jazz and Pops Contest (SJ&P Contest) in 2019. It was premiered by the Japan Ground Self Defense Force Eastern Army Band under the direction of Lt. Cmdr. Yoshiyuki Kato. A commissioned piece “Lazuli Cherenkov for Wind Orchestra” is also a contest piece for SJ&P in 2025, and published by Nexuss Music Publishing, Hama-matsu, Japan. His works are not only for jazz ensembles, but also for various chamber ensembles, wind ensemble, and symphonic orchestra.
Recently, he's worked for Jake Hertzog, jazz guitarist, composer, as a main collaborator, and their project was honored with the Jazz Road Creative Residency Grant from the South Arts Organization funded by the Doris Duke foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Dr. Watanabe arranged and orchestrated Hertzog’s “Ahthropoesia: Concerto for Jazz Guitar and Jazz Philharmonic” and conducted the Ozark Jazz Philharmonic for the world premiere performance at Faulkner Performing Arts Center, University of Arkansas in April 2024.
He previously taught at University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Concordia University, and University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.