Biography - Jean R Perrault

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, performer, conductor and composer, Jean (Rudy) Perrault is a sought-after educator/clinician, composer, performer, and conductor, nationally and internationally. He has guest-conducted All-State orchestras all over the U.S., and is a frequent clinician/panelist at festivals and competitions in all corners of the world. 

His compositions have been commissioned for, and performed by, world famous musicians and ensembles. His recent compositions include a piece for clarinet and djembe entitled “Omaj a Rasin”, "Fallen” a Duo for Cello and Piano for the Bardin-Niskala-Duo, a work for string orchestra “Sometimes, I Feel…” commissioned by the Northwest Suburban Conference high school orchestra programs (depicting the events surrounding the George Floyd murder), a duo for flute and double bass entitled “Caged” (commissioned for the 2020 National Flute Conference), a piano trio, "We Three Kings", commissioned by the Clayton-Jackson-McGhie Memorial organization (marking the 100th anniversary of the 1920 Duluth lynching), a duo for violin and cello (Dialogues for violin and cello), a duo for cello and hand drum (Peze Kafe), and an arrangement of Ludovic Lamothe’s Danza #4 for violin, cello and hand drum. 

Current projects include setting to music three poems of world-renowned author Edwidge Danticat, a composition for large orchestra entitled "Cognitive Dissonance", and a Ballet (Seremoni) for cello and world percussion. For more than a decade, Rudy has been collecting, digitizing, and editing the piano works of Haitian classical composers. His latest compilation: The music of Solon Verret, will soon become available. Rudy’s compositions, compilations and arrangements are distributed through JW Pepper.

Rudy is a founding member and president of the Kako Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing music to at-risk youth in the US and Haiti. He is a Fulbright Scholar, and the recipient of the UMD College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity award.

Rudy makes his home in Duluth, Minnesota.