SHAUN NAIDOO’S music has been performed throughout the United States, Europe, South Africa and Australia. Born in Ladysmith, South Africa in 1962 he composed extensively for the cabaret, musical theater, and modern dance stages in the 1980s. During this period he was closely associated with Shifty Records and released three records in collaboration with Warrick Swinney, including the“found” opera Season of Violence (1990) which received an Honorable Mention at the Prix Ars Electronica in 1992. He settled in California in 1990 and is currently an Associate Professor of Composition at ChapmanUniversity Conservatory of Music.

His music has been performed throughout the US, Europe, Australia and South Africa, and has been released by Island Records, C.R.I., New World Records, Capstone Records, and Evander Music, among other labels. Recent performances include a premiere of a new percussion quintet by the New World Percussion Consort (Miami Beach), and upcoming performances include premieres by the German Trio Ecco.

His music has consistently received critical acclaim. In 2005 the Los AngelesTimes stated that Naidoo is a composer who “entices human-like response from his computer”. During the late 1980s the Johannesburg Citizen named him “one of the brightest lights in the South African musical firmament” and the Johannesburg Star identified him as “the leading composer for modern dance in South Africa”. The Weekly Mail called Season of Violence “powerful, inventive and challenging”. More recently the Los Angeles Weekly described his music as “a hoot, and a delight” and added that he is a composer “…worth watching”.