Concert poster from my first professional concert! Designed by graphic design artist, Karen Rand. Click here to contact Jason |
Biography:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jason Bush received his Masters Degree in Composition from San Francisco State University, and his B.Mus. in Composition from Washington State University. His instructors include noted composers Ronald Caltabiano, Richard Festinger, Ryan Hare, and SCI Region 8 co-chair Charles Argersinger. At WSU he studied conducting with Lori Wiest and the late L. Keating Johnson. In the summer of 2006, pursuing his interest in conducting Jason traveled to Bard College in New York for the 2006 Conductors Institute, where he studied orchestral conducting with Eduardo Navega and Harold Farberman. In addition to composition Jason is also a dedicated vocalist, constantly performing in choral groups, chamber ensembles, opera/musical theater productions, and as a soloist. His vocal performances have taken him around the Northwest, California, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Russia. His first major choral work, Receive Our Prayer, written at the age of 21, received its international premiere in March 2005, in St. Petersburg Russia during the International Spring Youth Choruses and Orchestras Festival. Jason sang the Tenor solo in the performance. As a composer Jason has written numerous original works and arrangements for choir, three song cycles for voice, a string quartet, solo piano music, brass music, chamber music, and a cycle for chamber orchestra. He has also arranged Mozart’s Rondo, K. 511 for woodwind quintet, Bartok’s “Wrestling” from Mikrokosmos for string quartet, and Stravinsky’s Tango for full orchestra. Jason has been asked twice by the faculty at San Francisco State University to compose for the Earplay ensemble, a professional group in the San Francisco Bay Area specializing in the performance of new music. Beginning in April 2006, after finishing his Earplay project he completed a commission on a two-month timeline to set the four Marian Antiphons for a cappella chorus, writing each one for a specific California State University Choral Ensemble. In the summer of 2006 his own 15-instrument arrangement of his cycle for chamber orchestra, Exodus, was premiered during the Conductors Institute at Bard College in New York. Exodus was featured as the closing work of the program, and Jason conducted the ensemble during the performance. In addition to classical composition Jason has arranged and choreographed extensively for the popular Washington State University song and dance group Crimson Revue, of which he was also one of the pioneering members in 2001. Jason has been the recipient of the WSU music department’s Phase II scholarship, the SFSU music department’s Edward R. Nagel Scholarship Grant, and a SFSU Graduate Award of Distinguished Achievement, where at the awards ceremony the Dean of the College of Creative Arts read a statement by the music faculty declaring Jason to be one of the “top students in composition in the past 20 years.” Most recently he received a grant from the Subito program of the American Composers Forum, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, to fund a recital of his music in the Bay Area. In the San Francisco community Jason has worked with the Cypress String Quartet, a professional touring and recording ensemble and non-profit organization, and performs/composes/arranges for the semi-professional International Orange Chorale, and the 5-voice a cappella vocal jazz group, SoulSemble. Jason's Choral music is published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing. www.myspace.com/jasonrbush ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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LIST OF WORKS SOLO: • 5 Miniatures for Piano (2004) – character sketches for solo piano. ca. 9 min. *recording available • Helios (2007) – solo organ - written for the Johnson Organ at St. John's Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, CA . ca. 8 min. VOCAL: • Vérités Premières (2003, revised 2004) – a French poem in 8 segments, text by Claire Malroux. Soprano Voice, Piano, 5-octave Marimba, 3 Percussion Players. ca. 20 min. *recording available • The Boy and the Girl (2005) – Text by the composer. Tenor Voice, Violin, and Piano. *Unfinished - ca. 13 min. • Beloved (2005-2006) – song set (Prelude + 3 movements), text by Govinda Krishna Chettur. High Voice, Violin, and Piano. ca. 12 min. *recording available of 1st and 2nd mvmts. CHORAL: • Receive Our Prayer (2004) – Text from the Vulgate, other sacred Latin sources, and by the composer. Cantata for unaccompanied S.A.T.B. chorus and soloists. ca. 15min. *recording available • A Beautiful Day (2005) – Text by the composer. Double Chorus antiphonally with divisi in all parts. ca. 6’30” • Leaves are Falling (2006) – Text by the composer. S.A.T.B. chorus a cappella. ca. 4’30” • Four Marian Antiphons (2006) – Sacred Latin. S.A.T.B. chorus a cappella. Total timing, all four Antiphons: ca. 13 min. *recordings available • Vinea mea electa (2007) – Sacred Latin. S.S.A.A.T.T.B.B. chorus a cappella. ca. 4 min. CHAMBER: • Fanfare for Five Trumpets (2004) Piccolo trumpet, 4 Trumpets in B-flat. ca. 1’45” *recording available • Two Fantasies (2006) B-flat Clarinet, Viola, Prepared Piano, and Percussion. ca. 11 min. *recording available • String Quartet No. 1, “Visions” (2006-2007) 2 Violins, Viola, Cello. ca. 21 min. *recording available of mvmt. I • Fanfare Passacaglia for Brass Quintet (2007) 2 Trumpets in B-flat, Horn in F, Trombone, Tuba. ca. 3 min. ORCHESTRAL: • Exodus (2005-2006) – 5 mvmt. cycle for chamber orchestra. 1110-2110-timp+2perc. – str. (8,6,5,4,2), pf. ca. 15 min. • Exodus, 15 inst. Version (2006) 1111-1110-timp+1perc. – str. (1,1,1,1,1), pf. ca. 15 min. *recording available of mvmts. I, II, and V |
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Compositions | |||
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Receive Our Prayer - excerpt |
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| Receive Our Prayer - excerpt.mp3 - excerpt | |||
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Live Recording of the premiere at Bryan Hall Theater on January 15, 2005. Washington State University Concert Choir Dr. Lori J. Wiest, Conductor I composed this work in response to the subject of terrorism. In March of 2004 I saw in the newspaper horrifying photos of the terrorist train bombing in Spain that killed almost 200 people. I immeadiately took out a sheet of paper and wrote all over it, creating a list of words and phrases that captured my feelings in the heat of that moment. From this list I took bits and pieces that later became the text of the second movement of this cantata, "Words for the World." The excerpt above is from this movement. The soloist near the end of the excerpt is soprano Julie Ann Wieck. | |||
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Helios, for solo Organ - excerpt |
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| Helios, for solo Organ - excerpt.mp3 - excerpt | |||
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Live Recording of the premiere at St. John's Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, on September 28, 2007. Stephen Lind, organ This composition was composed specifically for the organ at St. John's. This Johnson organ was purchased in 1870, and sailed around the horn of South America for delivery to St. John's in San Francisco! Though the organ has gone through two major overhauls, most of the ranks are still the original 1870s'! Helios is the Greek God who, every morning and night, rode his chariot of fire through the sky signaling sunrise and sunset. The composition depicts this by begining with a dark and quiet landscape of sound through which burst momentary flashes of light. This excerpt is at the moment when darkness begins to give way entirely, and finally the sun bursts free from the horizon to spread light and warmth across the land. | |||
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Two Fantasies - mvmt. II, "Quietis" |
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| Two Fantasies - mvmt. II, "Quietis".mp3 - complete | |||
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WorkShop Session with EARPLAY at Knuth Hall, San Francisco State University in May, 2006. Peter Josheff, clarinet Ellen Ruth Rose, viola Karen Rosenak, piano Dan Kennedy, percussion Mary Chun, conductor Two Fantasies is a playing out of the idea that two words - or even two sentiments - with roughly the same meaning can carry completely different implications. In the Latin language the two words "Somnium" and "Quietis" both mean "a dream." However, the two words impart very unique nuances: the first implies foolishness, nonsense, while the second implies peace - a resting place. I wanted to explore the world of sound possibilities beyond the traditional use of a chamber ensemble such as this. Therefore I experimented with the use of Kick Drum, a prepared piano, different deployments of percussion mallets, and the players are also required to play crystal glasses. The aim was to produce a sound pallet that seemed "dreamed up," rather than thought out. My sincere thanks go out to the members of the Earplay Ensemble and SFSU for this workshop opportunity! This recording is of the complete work as read in the actual workshop by members of Earplay. Check it out... they are practically sight-reading this very difficult piece of music!! | |||
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Exodus - mvmt. II, "Mist"ery |
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| Exodus - mvmt. II, "Mist"ery.mp3 - complete | |||
| Exodus - mvmt. II, "Mist"ery.pdf - complete | |||
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Live Recording of the premiere (15-instrument version) at Olin Auditorium on the campus of Bard College, NY; August 4, 2006. Exodus was my first project as a Masters student under the mentorship of Ronald Caltabiano. The work is a cycle that tells the story of a culture forced to leave their homeland and seek out a new future. The music paints the various stages of human emotion that may transpire in such a situation: fear, questioning, emptiness, false hope, brotherhood, exhilaration, companionship, and ultimately love, the seed of any and all hope. The piece is evidence of my philosophy of "narrative music." The music is not Absolute because it serves to tell a story, or paint an aural image of a non-musical object, such as a particular emotion, etc. The music also is not programmatic, in that the story is actually inspired by the music, not the other way around - in other words the story arises organically - I wrote most of the music by the time I realized that I was telling a specific story. In this case the story and the music are not independent of one another, the music IS the tale, and the musical ideas are the language through which the tale is told. In the summer of 2006 I re-orchestrated the work for 15 players; this new version was given its world premiere on August 4th, 2006 by the Composers Orchestra at the Conductors Institute on the campus of Bard College in New York State. | |||
©2005 by Jason Bush
All Rights Reserved
Jason Bush is a member of Society of Composers, Inc. SCI is dedicated to the promotion of composition, performance, understanding and dissemination of new and contemporary music.