Jay C. Batzner (b. 1974) is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida where he teaches music composition and technology courses as well as coordinates the composition program. In his first year, Jay received two prestigious grants: one to create collaborative works with visual artist Carla Poindexter and the second to initiate electroacoustic music concerts in Orlando. Prior to this position, Jay was an active adjunct professor at several colleges in the Kansas City area while he completed his D.M.A. in Composition at the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory. While at UMKC, Jay received honors including a Distinguished Dissertation Fellowship and a Dean's Doctoral Scholar Fellowship.
Jay's music ranges from instrumental chamber works to electroacoustic compositions. He has participated in numerous national and international festivals including the Wellesley Composers Conference and the International Young Composers' Meeting in the Netherlands. His music is published by Unsafe Bull Music and has been recorded on the Capstone and Vox Novus labels. Jay is a frequent contributor to the new music website Sequenza21.com and a founding member of the composers organization The Collected.
Jay is a sci-fi geek, an amateur banjoist, a home brewer, and juggler.
|
2/10/2006
Jenufa
Kris and I finished watching Jenufa last night. Wow. Dark. Darkest of the dark. Lulu seems rather peppy in comparison.
I knew the plot going into it. I knew some of the music, too. But seen in context everything was much more intense than I expected. Usually I like the first act of an opera and then start to fade. The opposite happened here. The first act wasn't very captivating to me. And then it kept getting more interesting and powerful. Janacek was no slouch, that is for sure.
Jenufa,along with a recent performance of Schoenberg's op. 15, has rejuvenated my interest in double reeds. Especially contrabassoon. In C had some great contrabassoon moments the other night. I can't wait to write a chamber piece with a meaty contra part. I was also taken with Janacek's use of xylophone. Very effective stuff. Again, not a slouch.
I was also expecting the foster-mom to be more of a villain. Act 2 cured me of that. She might do unspeakable things, but she is much easier to relate to than, oh, Anakin Skywalker.
It got me thinking. Does anyone write comic opera anymore? Most new opera seems to be about dark, sullen, political things. Anyone writing good comic opera these days? Or has the comic music drama been permanently annexed by Broadway?
posted by Jay C. Batzner
|
| |
