Growing up in Texas, Clint Needham, DMA loved playing sports, but something special happened to him when he began making that trumpet mouthpiece buzz in 5th grade and through high school.
“I felt a different kind of encouragement from the music teachers than I did from my football or baseball coaches,” he recalls. “So when it came time to choose in high school, I chose music.”
He enrolled at Baldwin Wallace University in Cleveland because of its exceptional Conservatory of Music, where he found himself studying with trumpet players from The Cleveland Orchestra such as James Darling and Jack Sutte and was classmates in the trumpet studio with Lyle Steelman. Surrounded by other gifted student and faculty musicians, Clint determined to immerse himself in learning the art of composition and become a composer.
“I thought, if I’m going to spend hours in a practice room, I’d rather write and create music than play tunes all the time,” he says.
After earning his bachelor’s degree at BW in 2004, Clint went on to complete his master’s and doctorate degrees in music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. While he majored in composition his then girlfriend now wife Hillery majored in music education. Next, he spent two years teaching composition and theory at Ohio Wesleyan University while his wife taught in the public schools.
In 2012, he accepted the job at his alma mater as Composer-in-Residence/Professor of Composition at BW, where he’s composed music for the BW Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Kaboom Studio Orchestra, among others. I have also written for and collaborated with local ensembles including the Akron Symphony, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Mourning [A] BLKstar (CAP 2021), The Accidentals, and members of The Cleveland Orchestra (CAP 1993). His music has also been performed by the Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Albany Symphony. He also loves teaching students how to compose.
“It’s amazing to inject creativity into a student’s process and their education work,” he says. “It’s a different kind of engagement with music than most other students get in their undergraduate careers.”
Of his career trajectory, Clint feels comfortable with and confident in his work, and he is thankful to have the opportunity to work in an academic environment like the one at the BW Conservatory. “My colleagues and students are frequent collaborators, and the vibe is so welcoming to the exploration of new things,” he says. “I feel similarly about my many collaborations with Cleveland area artists and ensembles that I have been fortunate to work with over the years.”
Jack Sutte, second trumpet, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Professor of Trumpet at Baldwin Wallace’s Conservatory,” says of his friend and colleague: “As an advocate for the commissioning, performance and recording of new music, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with Clint on musical projects that have been some of the greatest highlights of my musical career. His music sounds to the truths of his life – with character, loving sonorities, wit and compelling rhythm. I love his music and am thankful for the opportunities to bring his scores to life.”
Clint plans to use part of his $10,000 prize on supplies and to update software. “The rest will go towards helping out with my three kids braces and maybe putting a little towards a trip to Scotland that we’ve wanted to take for a few years,” he says.