John Bickerton
Composer | Pianist
John Bickerton is a Brooklyn-based composer and pianist interested in how musical structure can shape a work without determining every aspect of how it unfolds. His music ranges across choral, chamber, instrumental, and electronic forms, with particular attention to line, harmonic color, pacing, and the possibilities that arise from a limited set of musical materials. In recent years, his interest in the American experimental tradition has led to an extended exploration of the music of John Cage, Earle Brown, Morton Feldman, and Christian Wolff.
Recent projects include recordings on Simple Harmonic Motion Records of Cage’s Atlas Eclipticalis and Brown’s Four Systems, as well as new realizations of open and indeterminate works by composers of the New York School.
Featured Projects
Earle Brown’s Four Systems (1954) is an early and influential work of open-form composition, articulated through graphic notation rather than fixed musical notation. In this recording, John Bickerton offers four realizations that reorder and reorient the score’s material, illuminating its structural flexibility. Each performance traces a distinct path through the work’s open architecture, revealing its latent expressive possibilities.
John Cage’s Atlas Eclipticalis (1961–62) translates astronomical star maps into a field of dispersed musical events, shaped through chance operations rather than fixed hierarchy. This recording approaches the score with attention to balance, pacing, and spatial articulation. The result highlights the work’s structural logic within its indeterminate framework.
Ubi Caritas is a contemporary a cappella setting for SATB choir structured in three balanced sections, each framed by a solo intonation of the opening chant. The work moves from sustained, closely voiced harmonies to a more animated contrapuntal middle before reconciling both textures in a unified conclusion. Its design reflects a concern for proportion, pacing, and harmonic clarity within a focused liturgical form.
Selected Activity
• Four Systems released on Simple Harmonic Motion.
• Extended interview with Marc Medwin published in Fanfare, discussing recent recording projects and compositional work.
• Atlas Eclipticalis released on Simple Harmonic Motion.
• Alleluia (SATB with piano) published by Fred Bock Publishing Group.
Recordings are available via: