Jordan Alexander Key

Dr. Jordan Alexander Key is a PhD, composer, musicologist, organist, and bagpiper who writes concert music that is performed around the world. Much of his academic and artistic work concerns handicapped and LBGTQ+ accessibility in education and the arts. Jordan is also the co-founder of the Aegis Institute of Florida, a private, tuition-free, non-profit secondary school for academically minded, curious young adults. At the Aegis Institute, Jordan is the Chief Operations Officer, Lead Humanities Teacher and Curriculum Designer, as well as their graphic designer and lead fundraiser.

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Jordan earned his PhD at the University of Florida in Music Composition and Theory in 2021. Prior to this, he earned his Master of Music degree at the University of Arizona and his three separate Bachelor’s degrees – Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Eastern Asian Studies, and Bachelor of Music in Theory and Composition – at the College of Wooster. He is a concert performer on the pipe organ as well as a trained vocalist, saxophonist, and bagpiper; he has played in orchestras, jazz bands, folk ensembles, choirs, and as a soloist around the world. Jordan’s research in early music, video game music, sacred music, contemporary concert and chamber music, Scottish folk music, and the history of Western rhythmic notation infuse his own compositions with not only compelling tunefulness, but also intricate counterpoint, kaleidoscopic harmony, and inventive rhythmic impulse. His music is described as “uncompromisingly demanding but satisfyingly compelling” (composer Daniel Asia) and “wholesomely electric and forward-thinking” (composer Paul Richards) as well as “fearlessly vulnerable in its approach to social issues” (Calliope’s Call).

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Jordan has been the composer in residence for the National Science Foundation, The Harn Museum of Art, the Florida Players, the BRIT School, The Vancouver Queer Arts Festival, and the University of Florida School of Theatre and Dance. Key’s commission credits include works written for JACK Quartet, Icarus Quartet, Unheard-of//Ensemble, Loadbang ensemble, Odin Quartet, Calliope’s Call, Fonema Consort, Bold City Contemporary Ensemble, saxophonist Laurent Estoppey, organist Pamela Decker, violinist Irvine Arditti, and many others. His music has been performed at venues including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre, and the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

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Outside of his musical and artistic career, Jordan publicly speaks around the Southeastern United States at Universities and High Schools about handicapped and queer advocacy in education and the arts. His and his husband’s school, The Aegis Institute, aims to bring better, more affordable, cross-disciplinary, research-oriented, socially minded education to all socio-economic classes in Florida and the United States generally during a time of diminishing standards and vision in secondary education.

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