Jarred McAdams's Biography

Jarred McAdams is an American producer of complex and engaging works for video and related media. His works are grounded in both popular culture and academic art, bridging the divide between the two. His gift for language and wordplay is demonstrated in most of his surprisingly simple works of art and entertainment, often with highly integrated and beautiful structures not always appreciated in a single viewing, but in no way interfering with the enjoyment of the piece taken at face value.

A native of Lexington, Tennessee, Jarred attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he received his Bachelor of Music in Composition. He then earned a Master of Arts degree, also in Music Composition, from Mills College.

While completing his graduate studies, Jarred wrote and produced his chamber opera, Men of Action. This led to an ambitious collaboration with composer Wally Scharold eventually leading to the creation of Adolphe Sax: A Memoir in Voices, one element in a larger group of works centered on the life of Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone. From 2004 to 2006, he wrote and performed in the underground TV variety show Affordable Entertainment, where he learned and refined the skills necessary for high-quality video production. He has carried that ability into a number of video projects created in collaboration with dance companies, rock bands, and public broadcast outlets. Most recently he completed The History of California, in collaboration with Group A Dance Company and then the miRthkon Extravaganza, a live touring multimedia event featuring video and the atonal jazz thrash music of local legends miRthkon.

In addition to creating video, Jarred also participates in a wide variety of other artistic projects. In 2006, Jarred teamed with Julia Christensen to perform Our Penultimate Year, a mini-series for radio for which he also wrote words and music, and he occasionally appears as a performer of his or other people's work. He performs occasionally with the Group A and has performed in live musical performances, animated films and with other performing organizations. Jarred lives in Oakland, California with his wife, Suhi Koizumi.