Homepage History...

1/16/2012

This is now the homepage for Dr. Ryan Jesperson. I successfully defended my dissertation and graduated in the fall of 2011. Currently I am applying for teaching positions, and also starting a bunch of new projects (it's incredible how much more time you have when you are not writing an opera!). Check back with the page soon for more performances and new works!

10/24/2011

The Opera is Done! I have finished all other doctoral requirements, and will defend the work on Dec. 3rd! If you want to check out the completed work please click here! You can listen to the MIDI and see the complete score.

8/10/2011

For those that are looking for our wedding website, Google isn't able to find it, so here's a link: http://www.ryanjesperson.com/wedding

On a non-related note, the first draft of the opera is done! You can check out the page and listen to midi and look at the really messy score. Now it's time to edit and revise!

7/26/2011

The site keeps improving and more music keeps going up. We're in the final month before the wedding, so not much happening on the musical side, but I am very close to finishing the first draft of the opera. Hopefully either before the wedding or shortly after. Keep your eyes on the site as it continues to improve and more content is added.

6/18/2011

The summer is off to a great start. The Duffy Institute in VA was incredible, such inspiring musicians and composers, and the performance was exactly what I wanted. Today I'm in Baltimore for the second concert of The Rhymes with Opera summer tour. NYC last night was packed and the performances exquisite. There are new recordings up from Duffy and I'll hopefully have RwO up soon as well.

5/12/2011

Many concerts coming up this summer! Rhymes With Opera (featuring the West End String Quartet) will be performing Orphée Redux in NYC, Baltimore, Hartford, and Boston (visit the Rhymes with Opera or West End String Quartet websites for more information). And faculty from the Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival will perform ...and those seven dwarfs at three Maine locations. This of course leads up to August 20th, when I will be getting married!

2/26/2011

Just got back from Kansas City, where Dr. Robert Olson and the UMKC Orchestra did a marvelous job premiering I.Jest. You can hear the recording by clicking the "Classical" playlist to the upper right!

2/16/2011

...and those seven dwarfs will be performed a couple of times this summer in Western Maine by faculty from the Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival. More details will be forthcoming. I also am finishing up some new works that will be premiered this semester so stay tuned for those as well.

1/27/2011

More music and a better site! A recording of Romanza for Saxophone and Violin is now up, and I'm hard at work on a bunch of projects that will see fruition this semester. I'm a member of a poetry/improv group called The Bluebottles (find us on facebook) and we'll be performing this weekend in Sturbridge, MA. I'm also starting to set up some performances of works this spring and summer, so keep checking to your right for more performances. I'm also learning a lot more about website design in my new job, so I'm going back through the site and fixing lots of sloppy code. So if you notice anything goofy, let me know so I can fix it!

12/18/2010

It's been a busy week. Sheri Brown and Sarah Washburn performed Romanza for Saxophone and Violin on Tuesday (a marvelous performance) and the West End String Quartet read through Not Death, but Love on Thursday. I have the recording up for Not Death, but Love, and will get Romanza up once we get together and record it. Have a happy holiday!

 

11/28/2010

This is a purely personal announcement, but a pretty big one! On Sunday, Nov. 28th I proposed to my girlfriend Sarah Washburn. We are now engaged. The wedding will be in 2011 or 2012, and you can be sure I'll write some music for the occasion!

11/11/2010

New recordings! I have received recordings from the Kansas City Chorale and the UMKC Grad Quartet. The KC Chorale performed "Indeed This Very Love" from Sonnets from the Portuguese. And the UMKC Grad Quartet with Dean Peter Witte performed ...and those seven dwarfs at a UMKC Kids Club Event in October. Enjoy!

10/20/2010

The first act of the opera has been completed. I've set up a page for the work and will be posting pdfs of the score and midi files so that those interested can check out the work. Any feedback is of course welcome. Keep your eyes peeled, as Act II is just around the corner...

8/10/2010

Hope you are enjoying the new website. I know that sometimes the flash menu doesn't work, so just click back to the homepage and it will work from there. I'll try and fix it asap.

Other good news: The Juventas New Music Group has chosen Hebdomas Squatinae [shark week] for a future concert date. I'll let you Boston people know the date and location as soon as I do.

6/30/2010

I just found out that my orchestra work I. Jest won the 2010 UMKC Orchestra Competition. The work will be performed in the spring of 2011 by Robert Olson and the UMKC Orchestra.

6/27/2010

My work, Hebdomas Squatinae, was performed at the Belvedere Music Festival. A rough recording is available under the classical playlist. Luna Nova did a marvelous job and the festival was superb from start to finish. I must also thank Breen and Jean for their incredible hospitality and all the wonderful food.

5/28/2010

I have now officially moved back to Hartford, CT. I'm working on some new music, including my dissertation, and working at the Ethel Walker Summer Arts Camp this summer. I'll be teaching theatre (don't laugh)...

I have posted some new recordings, Boombox Serenade can be found in the Classical playlist, while A Funk for the Bunk and Those Feelings can be found in the Jazz playlist. Enjoy!

3/31/2010

My work, Hebdomas Squatinae, won the 2010 Beethoven Club/Belvedere Festival Composition Contest. I'll be in Tennessee in June to hear the premiere. I am also lining up a lot of other great performances over the next year so keep checking to the left for big premieres and performances.

3/28/2010

I have a new recording of Farbenmusik for solo piano. It's a live take from a studio session we did a few weeks ago. Amanda Arrington nailed it on the first take. We also did a cleaner section-by-section version which will be mixed and up soon.

Also, I'll be relocating back to the Hartford area in mid-May. I'm looking for some work as I take next year to write my dissertation. Any leads are appreciated, or if you just want to hang out that's cool as well...

2/27/2010

I am through the majority of my comprehensives, and so far things seem to be going well. I was also recently honored by winning the 2009 KC Chorale Composition Competition. My piece, "Indeed this very Love" from Sonnets from the Portuguese will be premiered March 6th.

1/20/2010

This semester is gearing up to be busy. I am preparing for my COMPS as well as trying to start writing music for my dissertation and finish my final semester of classes at UMKC. Stay tuned as the site will hopefully go through a major update near the end of April.

On the recording front, I've added a rough mix of Little Tokoyo, a work for brass quintet and piano that is part of a multimedia event involving video. The mix is rough because it might further be spliced and edited as the video is finished. Still, check it out and enjoy.

11/3/2009

The recordings for CO(mp)LLABORATIONS are up. CLICK HERE. If you want to hear my piece from the concert This song is called EZEKIEL and it's about aliens and shit... you can click on the "Classical" playlist in the upper right corner.

Also, I recently got a recording of my selections from my song cycle Birdsongs, and you can listen to them as well in the "Classical" playlist. Sharon Campbell and Marilyn Musick did a wonderful job at the Nebraska at Kearney New Music Festival.

10/20/2009

I have finished the first draft of the story for my opera. The working title is Songs from Behind the Curtain and if you want to read it I'd love to hear your comments. You can download a pdf of the story by clicking the title above. Let me know what you think. Enjoy.

9/7/2009

I am featured on the latest "No Extra Notes" podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast through the iTunes store. Mine is the "Composer Takeover" episode. Also, progress is continuing on the ArtSounds for October. The piece is near completion and the puppets an sets that Maria and Spencer are making look fantastic. I'll post pictures and more audio soon, so keep a look out...

5/28/2009

"Sand" from scenes from a solitary beach was one of the winners of the Pilgrim's Walk Competition and will be performed as part of the Kalv Festival in Sweden in August. It was the only work by an American to be chosen.

4/7/2009

Farbenmusik won the Chappell White Memorial Award as best student composition at the College Music Society's Great Plains Conference. The recording is now available in the "Classical" player. I also just learned that Concerto for Flute was a finalist for a Morton Gould Award, but did not win this year. In funny news, I Await Your Urgent Response was banned from YouTube because it is apparently "inappropriate". Guess I'm more edgy than I thought...

12/22/2008

My work, fragments and memories, just won the 2008/2009 British Trombone Society Composition Contest. The piece will be performed on a future BTS event and will be published by Warwick Music.

11/19/2008

CO(mp)LLABORATIONS was a great success. I have set up a webpage for the performers and composers to download the recording, or if you are just visiting the site and want to know more, CLICK HERE.

10/24/2008

I am pleased to report that I am the winner of the 2008 UMKC Orchestra Composition Competition. My Concerto for Flute will be premiered by Sophia Tegart (for whom it was written) and the UMKC Orchestra on a spring concert.

There's also two new recordings from my Songs of Shelley project. You'll find them under the classical recordings (even though they are jazz tunes...)

8/23/2008

A rough cut of Concertino for Violin and Viola has been placed on the site. For those involved that would like a recording please email me and I'll send you a link. This is my cut, and I'm sending it back to Monkeyclaus Studios for further editing and mixing. Let me know what you think.

All Events

Fall, 2012: Joseph Abad will premiere a new Saxophone Sonata.

Fall, 2012: Jordan Jacobson will perform fragments and memories in CT.

Spring-Summer, 2012: Jeux pour Jumeaux will be performed in San Francisco, CA.

Spring, 2012: Bobby Watson and the UMKC Big Band will premiere Rhapsody for Dean Moriarty in Kansas City, MO.

Spring, 2012: Ashly Evans will premiere Birdsongs in Houston, TX.

Spring, 2012: BA(da)SS will be performed by Ryan Ford in West Hartford, CT.

Spring, 2012: Jordan Jacobson will perform fragments and memories in CT.

Spring, 2012: Not Death, but Love will be premiered by Ineo Saxophone Quartet.

Spring, 2012: David Tayloe will perform A Page Out of Zen in CT.

May, 2012:The Invisible, Magic, Soccer Phone will be premiered in Middlefield, CT.

April, 2012: The UMKC Opera Dept. will perform portions of Songs from Behind the Curtain.

April, 2012: David Tayloe will premiere A Page Out of Zen in NY.

Feb. 17th, 2012: The 016 Ensemble will be perform Romanza for Alto Saxophone and Violin in Manchester, CT.

Dec. 3rd, 2011: Ryan defends his dessertation, Songs from Behind the Curtain at UMKC.

July 17th, 21st, 24th, 2011: Music Faculty from the Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival will perform ...and those seven dwarfs in a series of concerts in Western Maine.

June 16th, 17th, 23rd, 24th, 2011:Orphée Redux will be performed by Rhymes With Opera on their East Coast Tour (NYC, Baltimore, Hartford, Boston).

June 12th, 2011:Selection from Songs from Behind the Curtain will be performed at the John Duffy Composers Institute in Norfolk, VA.

May 13th, 2011: The Ineo Quartet will perform the 1st movement of Not Death, but Love on their Fischoff Competition program in South Bend, Indiana.

March 19th, 2011: The Ineo Saxophone Quartet will perform ...and love is fire... from Not Death, but Love at the NASA conference in West Point, NY.

Feb. 25th, 2011: I. Jest will be premiered by Robert Olson and the UMKC Orchestra in Kansas City, MO.

Feb. 14th, 2011: Hebdomas Squatinae will be performed at the Nebraska at Kearney New Music Festival.

Jan. 29th, 2011: The Bluebottles, will perform improvised music as well as Ryan Jesperson originals in CT.

Jan. 23rd, 2011: Romanza for Saxophone and Violin be performed by Sheri Brown and Sarah Washburn on a Hartt Community Division Faculty Concert in West Hartford, CT

Dec. 14th, 2010: Romanza for Saxophone and Violin be performed by Sheri Brown and Sarah Washburn on an 016 New Music Ensemble Concert in Hartford, CT.

October 16th, 2010: I Await Your Urgent Response will be performed at La Paloma in Hartford, CT.

October 9th, 2010: ...and those seven dwarfs will be performed on a Kids Club concert in Kansas City, MO.

June 23-26, 2010: Hebdomas Squatinae will be performed by the Luna Nova Ensemble at the Belvedere Festival in Memphis, TN.

June 7th , 2010: Farbenmusik will be performed by Amanda Arrington at the NACUSA East Coast Concert in New York, NY.

April 24th, 2010: Chris Belluscio will premiere Boombox Serenade for trumpet and electronics in Boston, MA.

April 19th and 20th, 2010: Nate Gay will perform Euphonium>Plutonium in Kansas City, MO.

April 13th, 2010: HEADSinTALES will be performed at UMKC/KCAI ArtSounds in Kansas City, MO.

April 10th, 2010: Farbenmusik will be performed by Amanda Arrington at the UCM New Music Festival.

March 6th and 7th, 2010: "Indeed this very Love" from Sonnets from the Portuguese will be premierd by the KC Chorale in Kansas City, MO and Prairie Village, KS.

Feb. 16th , 2010: Farbenmusik will be performed by Amanda Arrington at a UMKC GUILD Concert in Kansas City, MO.

Feb. 15th , 2010: Farbenmusik will be performed by Amanda Arrington at the Nebraska at Kearney New Music Festival.

November 17th, 2009: Kinda Kind of Blue an improv-based piece written by Ryan Jesperson and Brian Padavic will be performed at the UMKC GUILD Concert.

November 5th, 2009: I Await Your Urgent Response will be performed by the Butler JCFA Composers' Orchestra in Indianapolis, IN.

November 2nd, 2009: This next song is called... for solo clarinet will be premiered by Gabby Baffoni at Pi & Coffee.

Octrober 27th, 2009: The Women of Leopold Bloom will be performed by Keel Williams on his recital. 7:30, White Hall, UMKC.

October 13th, 2009: Little Tokoyo, A new collaborative work with Maria Creyts and Spencer Musser will be premiered on an ArtSounds Concert in Kansas City, MO.

October 13th, 2009: Precambria, an animation by Spencer Musser with original music by Ryan Jesperson will be premiered on an ArtSounds Concert in Kansas City, MO.

Octrober 9th, 2009: I Await Your Urgent Response will be performed at the SCI Region V Conference.

August 15th, 2009: "Sand" from scenes from a solitary beach will be performed as part of the Kalv Festival in Sweden.

May 31st & July 5th, 2009: fragments and memories will be performed at British Trombone Society events in Great Britain.

April 8th , 2009: Nate Gay will premiere portions of Euphonium >Plutonium in Kansas City, MO.

April 4th , 2009: Farbenmusik for solo piano will be premiered as part of the CMS Great Plains Conference in Kansas City, MO.

March 30-31, 2009: Birdsongs will be performed at the New Music Festival at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

March 5th, 2009: I Await Your Urgent Response will be performed on a UMKC GUILD Concert.

March 2nd, 2009: fragments and memories will be performed as part of the UCM New Music Festival.

Feb. 25th , 2009: Sophia Tegart will premiere the third movement of Concerto for Flute with the UMKC Orchestra in Kansas City, MO.

Jan 21st, 2009: Radu Clipa will premiere a new trombone concerto, fragments and memories, written for him, in Bucharest, Romania.

Sept. 30th, 2008: Liz Comninellis, Nate Reibli and Ryan Jesperson will perform selections from Songs of Shelley in Kansas City, MO.

sorry, I did not start keeping a history page until early 2009, so events before then are not included...as well as any performances that were not reported to me...