Jenni Brandon

WSW: When did you start composing?
JB: I started composing music when I was in junior high school. I spent a lot of my time writing songs and performing as a singer/songwriter around town, and became comfortable playing the piano and singing my own material. I started to write my own songs down, and decided to attend West Chester University in PA for composition. I really come from a background of show tunes, choral music, and singer/songwriters, so my writing tends to be melodic as inspired by all those years of singing!

WSW: Do you play an instrument or sing?
JB: I play piano (although not as much as I’d like to these days!) and I am a mezzo-soprano. I’ve had a fairly active career as a singer – performing not only my own works but the works of other composers as well. I’ve also done a lot of choral singing, and have been fortunate to tour with the Boston Pops, perform with the LA Philharmonic, Pacific Chorale, and at the Hollywood Bowl. I am also a choral conductor and have been the music director of The Concert Singers for 9 years.

WSW: Where do you usually compose?
JB: I compose in my home studio – I’m either at the piano or at my desk entering scores into Sibelius and editing. I prefer a quiet space to compose and chunks of time dedicated just to composing.

WSW: What has been your biggest challenge in composing?

JB: I wouldn’t say this is a challenge, but more of a careful balance of time. I usually have several writing projects going on at a time, and I have to balance sharing my time between these projects, especially if they are due around the same time (like the two projects I’m just finishing up this month!). It’s a nice challenge to have, though, and I am grateful for these opportunities to work with performers and create new music!!

WSW: Which composer do you admire?

JB: I’ve always had an affinity for Samuel Barber. When I was an undergrad at West Chester University in Pennsylvania (and West Chester is the hometown of Barber!) I was introduced to his art songs. Beautiful and complex, these songs really resonate with me, and I find myself returning to them even now when I just want to sing something that feels familiar and good. I love his sense of melody and how he tells the story and paints a musical picture.

WSW: What do you do in your free time?

JB: I am a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) 200 and an 85-hour certified prenatal teacher (soon to be a Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher (RPYT) and I teach about 10 classes of yoga/week. This isn’t exactly my “free time” but I LOVE teaching yoga and practicing yoga. It’s a great balance to writing music for me. Writing sequences for my classes are like writing a piece of music – it’s creative and exciting in the same way that crafting a new work is so exciting and can be so inspiring.

What little bits of free time I do have (!) I like to spend walking my dog, reading, hiking, hanging out with my husband (he teaches yoga too, so we geek out a lot about yoga), and even cooking.

I also conduct a community choir, so there’s a careful balance of my creative vs. working/administrative time, but I’m grateful for so many fun opportunities!

WSW: We recently performed your woodwind quintet Five Frogs. Can you tell us a little about the quintet?

JB: I wrote Five Frogs while I was in the DMA Composition program at the University of Southern California. I believe my teacher at the time, Rick Lesemann, recommended that I study quintets and write one of my own. It was at this time that I was also spending a lot of time visiting the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) where they have a wonderful Japanese Pavillion of hand-painted screens and other Japanese art. It was here that I picked up a little book called “One Hundred Frogs” which contains variations on Basho’s poem: “Old pond/Frog jumps in/The sound of water.” I love haiku and I loved the idea of writing stories about frogs, and decided to make each of the instruments of the quintet tell the story of a different frog. Using this little book as inspiration, I started writing the piece and it became Five Frogs. I was fortunate to work with the USC honors quintet under the guidance of David Weiss (former Principal oboist of the LA Phil and currently an incredible player of the Saw – you should check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqNzF4rYqlQ to watch him play the saw – AMAZING!). It was through working with this group that I learned so much more about these instruments, and was able to come out of the experience with a well-crafted piece through their guidance, a great performance, and new friendships, too. Jenni Olson, the flutist of the honors quintet, has been a friend of mine since then and she recently released her CD The Dreams of Birds on the Delos label with my piece “The Dreams of Birds” for alto flute and piano, written for her. – http://browse.delosmusic.com/The-Dreams-of-Birds-Jenni-Olson-flute-p/de-3434.htm .

WSW: What do you want the audience to know about your piece?

JB: I think the audience should know that this is a fun programmatic piece that tells the stories of these frogs. I love writing about nature, and I like to bring the audience my interpretation of the natural world. What I hope they get out of the experience is a story and imagery about five frogs hanging out around a pond, some leaping, some sitting on a lily pad, some chasing bugs, and that the audience can see these frogs in their mind’s eye and enjoy the music! Thank you so much for programming my music and for including me as your composer of the month!! Here’s to making great music!

Website: www.jennibrandon.com – you can find out about upcoming performances, purchase scores, find out about CD releases, and sign up for my monthly newsletter!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenni-Brandon-Music/215547043935
Twitter: @JenniBrandon1

Jenni is leading a Yoga Retreat in Italy from July 26-August 2, 2014. Check out the flyer for more details