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.
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8/30/2007
Loser no more...UPDATED
This morning I checked my email and found that my Concerto for Timpani won the UK Percussion Ensemble Composition Contest. I'm really excited, being that this is the first time I've ever won anything. Now the piece will get another performance in Lexington, KY (UK as in University of Kentucky, not as in United Kingdom) and I even get a cash award. And I get to put "award winning" in my bio, nyuk nyuk!
Ok, I probably won't do that. But I might.
I don't feel any differently about the piece, which I think is a good one, nor do I expect to ever win anything again. But I do hold this as a testament to my "send stuff to everything you can" philosophy. Who knows what reasons the judges have in picking the pieces that they do. You just gotta keep sending your stuff out there. I hope that my students start to set time aside for searching for opportunities and sending their scores out. Stuff like this isn't going to happen without a bit of hustle.
So, I'm pretty happy today. This is cool. If the same piece wins the Barlow Prize, not only will I do backflips I'll definitely adjust my bio...
UPDATE:
Several of you want to hear the piece. Here it is. The soloist is John W. Parks IV and the KU Percussion Ensemble. If you want a score, you can have one.
posted by Jay C. Batzner
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