Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch’s music has been widely performed throughout North America, as well as Europe, Asia and Latin America. His work has been recognized by the National Federation of Music Clubs, Minnesota Orchestra, American Choral Directors Association, Music Teachers National Association, Percussive Arts Society, International Trumpet Guild, College Music Society, Music Educators National Conference, the Composers Guild, Composers and Songwriters International, Collegiate Band Directors National Association, American Composers Forum and numerous other organizations. He has been the recipient of over thirty composition awards and paid commissions. In 2018 his composition Cellgames.2.0 for wind ensemble was a finalist for The American Prize. Approximately forty of his works are published by Southern, Dorn, Kjos, Alliance, Flammer, Ensemble, Fred Bock, Plymouth, and other publishers. Clockwork for orchestra is available on an album recorded by the Slovak Radio Orchestra under the direction of the late Robert Black (PARMA Recordings).

A native of Duluth, Minnesota, Gooch received his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. He studied with Stephen Dembski, Joel Naumann, Thomas Wegren, Mary Mageau, Eric Stokes and others, representing the varied aesthetic philosophies and stylistic positions of composers such as George Crumb, Milton Babbitt, Howard Hansen, and Nadia Boulanger. This broad background has informed Gooch’s own diverse and comprehensive style.

Gooch’s work as music theorist has been recognized by the College Music Society and Macro Analysis Research Organization, and Gooch has authored a manual in the Benward/White Music in Theory and Practice textbook series published by McGraw-Hill. Professional affiliations include BMI, Society of Composers, American Composers Forum, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Pi Kappa Lambda, College Music Society, Music Theory Midwest, Macro Analysis Creative Research Organization, Music Teachers National Association, Music Educators National Conference, Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers, Wisconsin Alliance for Composers, and Iowa Composers Forum. 

Until his retirement in 2015, Gooch chaired the Theory-Composition Area at Truman State University and coordinated the graduate music program. In 2012, he was named the Truman State University Educator of the Year and in 2013, he received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education from the State of Missouri. He is also actively involved in church music.