Pat Irwin
Guest Master Teacher
Pat Irwin most recently composed the score for the Showtime Series, Dexter: New Blood. He has composed music for many film and television shows as well as independent film. Television scoring credits includes Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, and HBO’s Bored To Death. Music for cartoons includes Nickelodeon’s Rocko’s Modern Life and SpongeBob SquarePants, Class of 3000, with Andre 3000, HBO’s A Little Curious, and Disney’s Pepper Ann. Pat composed the score for “Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling,” based on the original Nickelodeon cartoon, which premiered on Netflix in August, 2019. He has composed the music for many independent features including But I’m A Cheerleader, My New Gun, and Bam Bam and Celeste, written by, and featuring, comedienne Margaret Cho. Pat Irwin is currently recording and performing with SUSS, their most recent recording, the self titled double LP, was released on Northern Spy Records in the Spring, 2023. Pat was a long time member of the B52s and recorded and performed with the band from 1989 through 2007. Prior to the B52s he was an original member of The Raybeats as well as 8 Eyed Spy with Lydia Lunch. In 2013 The Raybeats released The Lost Philip Glass Sessions, a series of collaborations with composer Philip Glass that were originally recorded in 1982. Pat has also composed for theater and dance and has collaborated with choreographers Stephen Petronio and Pooh Kaye as well as playwright Theodora Skipitares. Pat has received grants and awards from the New York City Cultural Council, The New York Foundation For The Arts, Meet The Composer, The Mary Flagler Carey Charitable Trust, ASCAP, and the Thomas J. Watson Foundation. While researching expatriate jazz and jazz musicians with a grant from the Watson Foundation he studied and performed with composer John Cage. He received a B.A. in American Studies from Grinnell College in 1977 and in 2012 received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Grinnell. He received 2011, 2012, and 2013 ASCAP Film and Television Awards for his contributions to the music of SpongeBob SquarePants.