American composer living in Minneapolis
Jeffrey Brooks (born 1956) is an American composer living in Minneapolis. Brooks composed the popular work "Dreadnought" (for wind ensemble) as well as several works for Bang on a Can.
Brooks holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and Yale University. He studied with Louis Andriessen, Gilbert Amy, Allen Forte and Martin Bresnick. In the mid-1980s, at Yale and Tanglewood, he met Steve Martland, Art Jarvinen, Eleanor Hovda, Michael Gordon and David Lang, who have remained the most important influences in his musical life to this day.
Brooks has composed, with few exceptions, instrumental works, from the very small ("What Bird am I Thinking of", for piano trio) to the very large ("Dreadnought", "John Henry", "Funeral Music", and "Providence"), all for forces of 60-plus musicians.