Founded in 2010, Seattle Modern Orchestra (SMO) is the only large ensemble in the Pacific Northwest solely dedicated to the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Led by co-artistic directors Julia Tai and Bonnie Whiting, SMO commissions and premieres new works from an international lineup of composers, in addition to presenting important pieces from the contemporary repertoire that are rarely if ever heard by Seattle audiences. The ensemble “operates at that exciting cusp between old and new, between tradition and innovation” (Vanguard Seattle) curating new sounds and experiences for concert goers in the region.
SMO provides audiences with performances of the best in contemporary chamber and orchestral music, and develops podcasts, lectures, educational residencies, and other forms of community engagement in an accessible and inviting format all designed to expand the listener’s appreciation and awareness of the music of today.
Our Co-Artistic Directors
Bonnie Whiting
Bonnie Whiting (she/her) performs, improvises, and creates new music for percussion. Exploring intersections of storytelling and experimental music, her work is often cross-disciplinary, integrating text, music, movement, and technology. Her debut album, featuring a solo-simultaneous realization of John Cage’s 45′ for a speaker and 27’10.554 for a percussionist was released by Mode Records in 2017, and her second album, Perishable Structures, launched on the New Focus Recordings label in 2020. Current projects include an evening-length song cycle for speaking percussionist composed by Eliza Brown and 10 musicians incarcerated at the Indiana Women’s Prison, an expansive new work by composer Wang Lu, performances on the original Harry Partch instrumentarium, and concerti appearances with the National Orchestra of Turkmenistan. She recently performed in the multimedia opera The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist (co-commissioned by The Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College, and Stanford Live at Stanford University): a project that will reprise at Lincoln Center in July, 2024. In addition to her work with SMO, she has performed with the country’s leading new music groups: Ensemble Dal Niente, International Contemporary Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, and red fish blue fish percussion group. She is Chair of Percussion Studies and the Ruth Sutton Waters Associate Professor of Music at the University of Washington.
Julia Tai
Praised by the Seattle Times as “poised yet passionate,” Taiwanese-American conductor Julia Tai is becoming one of today’s most dynamic and engaging conductors on the international stage. Currently, she is the Music Director of Missoula Symphony Orchestra & Chorale, and the Co-Artistic Director of the Seattle Modern Orchestra. Her career has led to acclaimed performances and rehearsals with the American Youth Symphony, Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic (Czech Republic), Boise Philharmonic, Brandenburger Symphoniker (Germany), Estonian National Youth Symphony (Estonia), Idaho Falls Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, New Symphony Orchestra (Bulgaria), Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM (Mexico), Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil Charlos Chávez (Mexico), Philharmonia Northwest, and the Seattle Symphony.
Recognized as a prominent innovator of the contemporary music world, she has worked with legendary composers, performers, and ensembles such as Jonathan Harvey, Tristan Murail, Robert Aitken, Séverine Ballon, Claire Chase, Stephen Drury, Graeme Jennings, Garth Knox, Carol Robinson, Steven Schick, Seattle Chamber Players, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Ensemble Modern. She was a participant in the renowned Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice at the New England Conservatory, and a quarter finalist in the fourth Eduardo Mata Conducting Competition in Mexico.
Jérémy Jolley – Founding Director
French-American composer Jérémy Jolley was born in Lyon, France, and grew up in the French Alps where he played guitar in rock and fusion bands. He moved to Seattle in 1997 and pursued composition studies and received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees in Composition from the University of Washington. During these years, he studied composition primarily with Joël-François Durand, electronic music with Juan Pampin, and classical guitar with Steven Novacek. His music has been played by celebrated contemporary music performers such as the Dutch pianist and ensemble ASKO|SHOENBERG member René Eckhart, cellist Séverine Ballon, violinist Graeme Jennings, and clarinetist Carol Robinson. He attended the masterclasses of Brian Ferneyhough, Chaya Czernowin, Pierluigi Billone, and Mark André at the Darmstadt Internationalen Ferienkurse. From 2010 to 2024, he was the co-Artistic Director of Seattle Modern Orchestra. He is currently the Senior Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Seattle Symphony leading numerous community-centered initiatives including community composition projects with Derek Bermel, Alexandra Gardner, Charles Corey, Janice Giteck, Swil Kanim, and Paul Chiyokten Wagner.