Frank Nawrot, D.M.A

Dr. Frank Nawrot, Assistant Professor, is a composer, guitarist, and scholar. His original music is inspired by Tierra Whack, Julia Wolfe, Meshuggah, Julius Eastman, and Prince. Frank's music has been performed around the world—in Chicago, New York City, Kansas City, Hong Kong, Croatia, Lithuania, and Canada. He has earned a reputation for writing music that is accessible while being challenging enough to provide audiences with a fresh and exciting experience. Frank is regularly commissioned to compose music for saxophone, voice, piano, concert band, and more. He also records and produces music in a variety of styles. Armed with a doctoral degree in music composition and fifteen years performing rock, pop, and hip-hop, Frank brings a unique sound to the stage, the radio, and the screen. Frank's most recent major project was his theatrical symphonic piece, The Operator, for actors and orchestra. In recent years, he has aimed to create compositions that are engrossing and go beyond the standard audience-performer relationship—where the musicians make sound in the direction of the concertgoers with a gulf of physical and emotional space between them. The theatrical component is inspired by Marble Hornets, the YouTube horror series that brought the cryptid Slenderman to its cult status. The actors are meant to portray how those that take advantage of others, as the Slenderman (The Operator) figure does, ultimately run out of people to exploit and end up alone. The godlike portrayal of The Operator becomes meek and distinctly human by the end of the piece. Much of the piece juxtaposes harsh harmonies and mechanical polyrhythms with beautiful melodies and harmonies. The former represents the machinations of The Operator’s exploits, and the latter represents the humanity of those being taken advantage of.

Two of Frank’s other recent major creative projects include the recording of his first opera, Don Henry, about a Kansas student who fought and died in the Spanish Civil War, and his electronic-rock album, Nostalgia Trap—both are available on Spotify and Apple Music. Frank is also a sound designer and composer for the short story podcast, Tiny Tales.

Frank’s research interests include popular music, minimalism, and composition pedagogy. He has presented his research to the Society of Music Theory, the Society of Minimalist Music, and the Society of Composers, Inc., among others.