An ISU graduate combined his knowledge of physics with his musical talent to win a national composer competition.

The BMI Student Composer Awards received more than 450 entries from around the world by participants ranging in age from 15 to 26. Students competed for a total of $20,000 in music education scholarships.

Jonathan Saggau, an ISU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in music, was among nine composers honored for his winning composition “Now I am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds.”

The competition was held June 15 in New York City.

The title of the piece comes from an ancient Eastern text, once quoted by Robert Oppenheimer, the creator of the atomic bomb, when he first completed the Manhattan Project.

Saggau said an interest in physics ultimately helped him in selecting a theme for his composition.

“I was reading about the Manhattan Project and saw a picture of Oppenheimer,” Saggau said. “He was a very pale, thin man. You could tell he wrestled with a lot of demons mentally, working on the atomic bomb.”

During his reading, Saggau found out that Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings” was playing as a “cross chatter” over the radios used for communication among the physicists during the first test of the atomic bomb.

“I decided then that I would write a piece from the point of view of Oppenheimer, as though I could visit his mind during the project,” Saggau said.

Saggau’s musical piece depicts several aspects of the evolution of the atomic bomb.

When not composing, Saggau said he enjoys fixing his 1971 Mustang and listening to Radiohead, Miles Davis and classic jazz.

“My family used to listen to old rock and roll when I was growing up, so I like it too,” Saggau said.

He named a few classical pieces as his favorites, including Igor Stravinsky’s “The Right of Spring” and “From Me Flows What You Call Time” by Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.

This summer Saggau is teaching percussion to nearly 30 students at Reiman Music in Des Moines.

The Iowa State Wind Ensemble will perform Saggau’s “Now I am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds” during President Gregory Geoffroy’s installation on Oct. 6.

Saggau said he enjoyed a lot of individual attention at Iowa State because he came at the right time and met the right people.

He worked closely with associate professors of music Barry Larkin and Elizabeth Sadilek and former ISU music professors Craig Weston and Robert Rathmell.

“They influenced me to start composing music,” Saggau said.

Larki, who gave Saggau private lessons, said he noticed talent in the young man right away.

“You just immediately notice people like Jon,” Larkin said. “He is very intelligent and energetic and is equally at home composing music and solving a physics problem . I hope Jon follows the muse that guided him all this time.”