Jay C. Batzner is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida where he teaches theory, composition, and technology courses as well as coordinates the composition program. He holds degrees in composition and/or theory from the University of Missouri – Kansas City, the University of Louisville, and the University of Kansas.
Jay's music is primarily focused around instrumental chamber works as well as electroacoustic composition. His music has been recorded on the Capstone, Vox Novus, and Beauport Classical labels and is published by Unsafe Bull Music.
Jay is a sci-fi geek, an amateur banjoist, a home brewer, and juggler.
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5/24/2006
Uncomfortable
Life has been busy with non-musical stuff lately. I'm hip-deep in a move to Orlando but now I'm finding time to do some musical things.
Yesterday I sent out a copy of my piano trio for a recording session. I've become part of a composer group called the Collected. Our motto: record first, perform later. We are just getting started so I don't really have too much else to share about them now. Anyhow, I wrote my trio last summer. It is a single movement about 9 minutes long. Nobody has seen it. Now it is getting recorded.
The piece makes me very uncomfortable. I believe that it works but I also think it might fail completely. It is a departure for me, as most of my pieces are. Very thin and sparse. Very slow but I'm starting to think that it isn't slow enough. I'm not sure that the piece should have any sort of public life. Maybe I should have thrown it away instead of getting it recorded.
But part of me revels in my discomfort. That is the true joy in composition. I don't know if it is going to work or not. Some people I know write music that they know is going to work. That is fine, I guess, but where is the exploration? Are they pushing themselves at all? Are they trying new things and growing? Usually not. So, while it might sound like I'm not prepared for this recording session, I think I'm more prepared than ever.
posted by Jay C. Batzner
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