I have always thought of my career as fairly concise, with most of my activities funneled through my work with So Percussion. But I am realizing more and more, that all careers in music these days require a flexibility to do many things well and piece together lots of interesting activities to make up the whole.
Jason Treuting has performed and recorded in venues as diverse as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Walker Art Center, the Knitting Factory, the Andy Warhol Museum, Zankel Hall, Lincoln Center, DOM (Moscow) and Le National (Montreal). As a member of So Percussion, he has collaborated with artists and composers including Steve Reich, David Lang, John Zorn, Dan Trueman, tabla master Zakir Hussain, the electronic music duo Matmos and choreographer Eliot Feld. In addition to his work with So, Jason performs improvised music with Simpl, a group with laptop artist/composer Cenk Ergun; Alligator Eats Fish with guitarist Grey McMurray; Little Farm, with guitarist/composer Steve Mackey; QQQ (a quartet consisting of hardinger fiddle, viola, guitar and drums); and Big Farm (a foursome led by Rinde Eckert and Steve Mackey).
Jason also composes music. His many compositions for So Percussion include So's third album amid the noise, and contributions to Imaginary City, an evening length work that appeared on the Brooklyn Academy of Music's 2009 Next Wave Festival. Recent commissions for other ensembles have included Oblique Music for 4 plus (blank), a concerto for So Percussion and string orchestra for the League of Composers Orchestra; Circus of One, music for a video installation in collaboration with Alison Crocetta; and Diorama, an evening length collaboration with the French choreographers in Projet Situ.
Jason received his Bachelors in Music and the Performer's Certificate at the Eastman School of Music where he studied percussion with John Beck and drum set and improvisation with Steve Gadd, Ralph Alessi and Michael Cain. He received his Masters in Music along with an Artist Diploma from Yale University where he studied percussion with Robert Van Sice. Jason has also traveled to Japan to study marimba with Keiko Abe and to Bali to study gamelan with Pac I Nyoman Suadin.
Jade is committed to expanding the boundaries of Classical music and its presentation. From 2006-2010 she served as the inaugural New Music/New Places Fellow for the prestigious Concert Artist Guild organization. She offers a diverse mix of repertoire from the Classics to the cutting edge. Audiences have come to expect creative projects backed by riveting performances like her program Kandinsky and Scriabin: Hearing Color, Seeing Sound which focuses on links between visual art and music, as well as The Rhythm Project, an exploration of pieces that exploit the more percussive nature of the piano. Ms. Simmons, a Yamaha Artist, has toured the US extensively, highlighted by concerts on Ravinia’s Rising Stars series, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, the University of Washington World Series in Seattle, Merkin Hall and the Detroit Institute of Arts. In 2012, she will return to Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall and will release Playing with Fire, an EP on her newly launched record label Superwoman Records.
Jade’s multiple talents make her a true Renaissance woman of the millennium taking her in the direction of arts presenter, writer, lecturer and creator of Emerge Already!, career-building platform for emerging artists including videos, blogs and books. Most recently, she has been invited to write for the Huffington Post’s Arts section and she has served as the webcast host for both the Van Cliburn and the Tchaikovsky International music competitions. An artist with a social conscience that moves her to action, Jade serves as an advocate for America’s youth, presenting arts outreach and addressing groups across the country on sensitive issues such as youth suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Jade has been recognized two years in a row by Symphony Magazine for her work on and away from the stage. In light of these achievements, she was listed as one of Ebony magazine’s Top 30 Leaders under 30 and was proclaimed Houston’s Best Arts Ambassador by the Houston Press.
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Dr. Lauren Denney Wright is the current Director of Wind Ensemble activities and Assistant Professor of Music at Berry College where she conducts the Wind Ensemble and teaches clarinet. Prior to her arrival at Berry College, Dr. Denney Wright was the Director of Bands, clarinet instructor, and taught Instrumental Music Education courses at Oklahoma Baptist University.
A native of Marietta, Ga., Dr. Denney Wright earned her bachelor of music degree in clarinet performance from Vanderbilt University, the master of music degree in clarinet performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the bachelor of music degree in music education from Kennesaw State University. Dr. Denney Wright completed her doctoral studies in instrumental conducting at the University of Miami Frost School of Music under the mentorship of Gary Green, where she conducted the Frost Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Winds, Chamber Winds and Concert Band. In addition, she taught conducting courses, worked with the Band of the Hour marching band and ran the men and women’s basketball pep bands. Dr. Denney Wright has worked with such composers as John Corigliano, David Maslanka, Michael Daugherty, John Mackey and Steven Bryant. In addition, Dr. Denney Wright will be making her international debut conducting chamber music with members of the Berlin Philharmonic this summer in Aix-en-Provence, France.
Dr. Denney Wright holds professional memberships with College Band Directors National Association, College Music Society and Music Teachers National Association. In addition she is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, Tau Beta Sigma, a founding member of Sigma Alpha Iota at Vanderbilt University, and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi.
Educational Background:
B.M., Vanderbilt University
M.M., University of North Carolina at Greensboro
B.M., Kennesaw State University
D.M.A., University of Miami Frost School of Music
A native of Marietta, Georgia, Dr. Denney Wright earned her Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet performance from Vanderbilt University, the Master of Music degree in clarinet performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Kennesaw State University. Prior to her appointment at Oklahoma Baptist University, Dr. Denney Wright completed her doctoral studies in Instrumental Conducting at the University of Miami Frost School of Music under the mentorship of Gary Green, where she conducted the Frost Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Winds, Chamber Winds and Concert Band. In addition, she taught conducting courses, worked with the Band of the Hour marching band and ran the men and women's basketball pep bands. Dr. Denney Wright has worked with such composers as John Corigliano, David Maslanka, Michael Daugherty, John Mackey and Steven Bryant.
Dr. Denney Wright holds professional memberships with College Band Directors National Association, College Music Society and Music Teachers National Association. In addition she is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, Tau Beta Sigma, a founding member of Sigma Alpha Iota at Vanderbilt University, and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi.
All posts from Lauren Denney WrightIn this week’s VLOG I discuss strategies for picking literature for your ensemble and planning for a concert.
Jade is committed to expanding the boundaries of Classical music and its presentation. From 2006-2010 she served as the inaugural New Music/New Places Fellow for the prestigious Concert Artist Guild organization. She offers a diverse mix of repertoire from the Classics to the cutting edge. Audiences have come to expect creative projects backed by riveting performances like her program Kandinsky and Scriabin: Hearing Color, Seeing Sound which focuses on links between visual art and music, as well as The Rhythm Project, an exploration of pieces that exploit the more percussive nature of the piano. Ms. Simmons, a Yamaha Artist, has toured the US extensively, highlighted by concerts on Ravinia’s Rising Stars series, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, the University of Washington World Series in Seattle, Merkin Hall and the Detroit Institute of Arts. In 2012, she will return to Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall and will release Playing with Fire, an EP on her newly launched record label Superwoman Records.
Jade’s multiple talents make her a true Renaissance woman of the millennium taking her in the direction of arts presenter, writer, lecturer and creator of Emerge Already!, career-building platform for emerging artists including videos, blogs and books. Most recently, she has been invited to write for the Huffington Post’s Arts section and she has served as the webcast host for both the Van Cliburn and the Tchaikovsky International music competitions. An artist with a social conscience that moves her to action, Jade serves as an advocate for America’s youth, presenting arts outreach and addressing groups across the country on sensitive issues such as youth suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Jade has been recognized two years in a row by Symphony Magazine for her work on and away from the stage. In light of these achievements, she was listed as one of Ebony magazine’s Top 30 Leaders under 30 and was proclaimed Houston’s Best Arts Ambassador by the Houston Press.
All posts from Jade Simmons
Here Derek talks about his struggles with looking at music purely from an academic viewpoint.
Derek M. Jenkins (b. 1986, Frankfurt am Main, Germany) is an American composer with a particular interest in music for wind ensemble and its various subsets. His music has been performed throughout the U.S., Europe and in Canada with select performances include those by the U.S. Army Materiel Command Band, the Florida State Wind Orchestra, the UMKC, Arizona State, Iowa State, and Bethel College Wind Ensembles, the Tri-State Wind Symphony, 5th House Ensemble, the Carinthia and Saxophilia Saxophone Quartets, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Beattie, and saxophonists Randall Hall, Gilbert Sabitzer, and Joseph Wytko. In 2012, Jenkins's wind ensemble piece “Eosphorus: The Morning Star” was selected as a winner of the National Band Association's Young Composer Mentor Project. Jenkins has received recognition from MACRO, ASCAP, the Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award Foundation, and at conferences and festivals across the U.S. and abroad. He has received commissions from the Bethel College Wind Ensemble and Concert Choir, the Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School Concert Band [Dubuque, IA], and various individuals throughout the country.
Jenkins is currently a student at Rice University (MM, expected 2012) and holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (BM, BM, 2010). Additionally, he has received further instruction at the Kärntner Landeskonservatorium and the Alpen-Adria Universität Klagenfurt. His primary teachers have included Karim Al-Zand, Chen Yi, Pierre Jalbert, Richard Lavenda, James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, and Zhou Long. He has also studied with Kathryn Alexander, Mark Camphouse, Carter Pann, and David Rakowski. In his spare time, Jenkins is an amateur scuba diver and daydreams of becoming an astronaut.
All posts from Derek Jenkins
Jade is committed to expanding the boundaries of Classical music and its presentation. From 2006-2010 she served as the inaugural New Music/New Places Fellow for the prestigious Concert Artist Guild organization. She offers a diverse mix of repertoire from the Classics to the cutting edge. Audiences have come to expect creative projects backed by riveting performances like her program Kandinsky and Scriabin: Hearing Color, Seeing Sound which focuses on links between visual art and music, as well as The Rhythm Project, an exploration of pieces that exploit the more percussive nature of the piano. Ms. Simmons, a Yamaha Artist, has toured the US extensively, highlighted by concerts on Ravinia’s Rising Stars series, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, the University of Washington World Series in Seattle, Merkin Hall and the Detroit Institute of Arts. In 2012, she will return to Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall and will release Playing with Fire, an EP on her newly launched record label Superwoman Records.
Jade’s multiple talents make her a true Renaissance woman of the millennium taking her in the direction of arts presenter, writer, lecturer and creator of Emerge Already!, career-building platform for emerging artists including videos, blogs and books. Most recently, she has been invited to write for the Huffington Post’s Arts section and she has served as the webcast host for both the Van Cliburn and the Tchaikovsky International music competitions. An artist with a social conscience that moves her to action, Jade serves as an advocate for America’s youth, presenting arts outreach and addressing groups across the country on sensitive issues such as youth suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Jade has been recognized two years in a row by Symphony Magazine for her work on and away from the stage. In light of these achievements, she was listed as one of Ebony magazine’s Top 30 Leaders under 30 and was proclaimed Houston’s Best Arts Ambassador by the Houston Press.
All posts from Jade SimmonsJade is committed to expanding the boundaries of Classical music and its presentation. From 2006-2010 she served as the inaugural New Music/New Places Fellow for the prestigious Concert Artist Guild organization. She offers a diverse mix of repertoire from the Classics to the cutting edge. Audiences have come to expect creative projects backed by riveting performances like her program Kandinsky and Scriabin: Hearing Color, Seeing Sound which focuses on links between visual art and music, as well as The Rhythm Project, an exploration of pieces that exploit the more percussive nature of the piano. Ms. Simmons, a Yamaha Artist, has toured the US extensively, highlighted by concerts on Ravinia’s Rising Stars series, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, the University of Washington World Series in Seattle, Merkin Hall and the Detroit Institute of Arts. In 2012, she will return to Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall and will release Playing with Fire, an EP on her newly launched record label Superwoman Records.
Jade’s multiple talents make her a true Renaissance woman of the millennium taking her in the direction of arts presenter, writer, lecturer and creator of Emerge Already!, career-building platform for emerging artists including videos, blogs and books. Most recently, she has been invited to write for the Huffington Post’s Arts section and she has served as the webcast host for both the Van Cliburn and the Tchaikovsky International music competitions. An artist with a social conscience that moves her to action, Jade serves as an advocate for America’s youth, presenting arts outreach and addressing groups across the country on sensitive issues such as youth suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Jade has been recognized two years in a row by Symphony Magazine for her work on and away from the stage. In light of these achievements, she was listed as one of Ebony magazine’s Top 30 Leaders under 30 and was proclaimed Houston’s Best Arts Ambassador by the Houston Press.
All posts from Jade Simmons
Domenic Salerni is the first violinist of the Vega String Quartet, quartet-in-residence at Emory University. He is also a laureate of the 2009 Sion-Valais International Violin Competition. Since 2008, Domenic has performed with the chamber ensemble Sejong on tour in the US and Korea. He has performed in such venues as Zankel Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Severance Hall, and has recorded for the Innova, Canary Classics, and Naxos labels, and has collaborated with such artists as William Preucil, Gil Shaham, Robert Spano, and Christopher Rex.
Domenic was a featured performer at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, ENCORE School for Strings, the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, and joined Sejong in their residency at the Great Mountains Music Festival in the summer of 2010. He has also performed as a member of the Vega Quartet at the North Georgia Chamber Music Festival, the Brevard Music Center, and the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival. In addition to his activities with the quartet, Domenic has collaborated with performer/composer Andy Akiho on a number of projects, and can be heard on Andy’s album “No One to Know One.” He will be performing with Andy this August at the Noguchi Museum.
All posts from Domenic SalerniA smattering of pictures relating to recent Vega Quartet events set to our demo CD recording of Haydn’s Op. 33 No. 1. We anticipate our demo to drop later this month. Hope you enjoy! Photo Credits: Nate Dorn, Dorn Brothers Photography, and me. Visit www.vegaquartet.com for more information!
Dr. Lauren Denney Wright is the current Director of Wind Ensemble activities and Assistant Professor of Music at Berry College where she conducts the Wind Ensemble and teaches clarinet. Prior to her arrival at Berry College, Dr. Denney Wright was the Director of Bands, clarinet instructor, and taught Instrumental Music Education courses at Oklahoma Baptist University.
A native of Marietta, Ga., Dr. Denney Wright earned her bachelor of music degree in clarinet performance from Vanderbilt University, the master of music degree in clarinet performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the bachelor of music degree in music education from Kennesaw State University. Dr. Denney Wright completed her doctoral studies in instrumental conducting at the University of Miami Frost School of Music under the mentorship of Gary Green, where she conducted the Frost Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Winds, Chamber Winds and Concert Band. In addition, she taught conducting courses, worked with the Band of the Hour marching band and ran the men and women’s basketball pep bands. Dr. Denney Wright has worked with such composers as John Corigliano, David Maslanka, Michael Daugherty, John Mackey and Steven Bryant. In addition, Dr. Denney Wright will be making her international debut conducting chamber music with members of the Berlin Philharmonic this summer in Aix-en-Provence, France.
Dr. Denney Wright holds professional memberships with College Band Directors National Association, College Music Society and Music Teachers National Association. In addition she is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, Tau Beta Sigma, a founding member of Sigma Alpha Iota at Vanderbilt University, and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi.
Educational Background:
B.M., Vanderbilt University
M.M., University of North Carolina at Greensboro
B.M., Kennesaw State University
D.M.A., University of Miami Frost School of Music
A native of Marietta, Georgia, Dr. Denney Wright earned her Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet performance from Vanderbilt University, the Master of Music degree in clarinet performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Kennesaw State University. Prior to her appointment at Oklahoma Baptist University, Dr. Denney Wright completed her doctoral studies in Instrumental Conducting at the University of Miami Frost School of Music under the mentorship of Gary Green, where she conducted the Frost Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Winds, Chamber Winds and Concert Band. In addition, she taught conducting courses, worked with the Band of the Hour marching band and ran the men and women's basketball pep bands. Dr. Denney Wright has worked with such composers as John Corigliano, David Maslanka, Michael Daugherty, John Mackey and Steven Bryant.
Dr. Denney Wright holds professional memberships with College Band Directors National Association, College Music Society and Music Teachers National Association. In addition she is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, Tau Beta Sigma, a founding member of Sigma Alpha Iota at Vanderbilt University, and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi.
All posts from Lauren Denney WrightReleasing this new recording has stretched me to the limits on all fronts…but that’s a good thing. Artistic identity expansion is something you should look into continually. Get to stretching!
Jade is committed to expanding the boundaries of Classical music and its presentation. From 2006-2010 she served as the inaugural New Music/New Places Fellow for the prestigious Concert Artist Guild organization. She offers a diverse mix of repertoire from the Classics to the cutting edge. Audiences have come to expect creative projects backed by riveting performances like her program Kandinsky and Scriabin: Hearing Color, Seeing Sound which focuses on links between visual art and music, as well as The Rhythm Project, an exploration of pieces that exploit the more percussive nature of the piano. Ms. Simmons, a Yamaha Artist, has toured the US extensively, highlighted by concerts on Ravinia’s Rising Stars series, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, the University of Washington World Series in Seattle, Merkin Hall and the Detroit Institute of Arts. In 2012, she will return to Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall and will release Playing with Fire, an EP on her newly launched record label Superwoman Records.
Jade’s multiple talents make her a true Renaissance woman of the millennium taking her in the direction of arts presenter, writer, lecturer and creator of Emerge Already!, career-building platform for emerging artists including videos, blogs and books. Most recently, she has been invited to write for the Huffington Post’s Arts section and she has served as the webcast host for both the Van Cliburn and the Tchaikovsky International music competitions. An artist with a social conscience that moves her to action, Jade serves as an advocate for America’s youth, presenting arts outreach and addressing groups across the country on sensitive issues such as youth suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Jade has been recognized two years in a row by Symphony Magazine for her work on and away from the stage. In light of these achievements, she was listed as one of Ebony magazine’s Top 30 Leaders under 30 and was proclaimed Houston’s Best Arts Ambassador by the Houston Press.
All posts from Jade Simmons