Composer Chats

Jason K. Nitsch
  • 5.0 (2)
  • MUSIC INTERVIEWS

Composer Chat is a podcast where we talk a little bit about music, a little bit about life, and a whole lot about whatever we feel like at the moment! Each episode I am joined by a special guest composer and we will chat about their pathway towards success in their musical career!

  1. 3D AGO

    April Fools - John Pasternak Takeover

    Jason Nitsch’s music is equally at home on the concert stage, in outdoor venues, and streaming online, reaching the broadest audience of musicians, performers, and music enthusiasts possible. As a composer dedicated to the exploration of new ideas, his music has evolved over a 25-year career to incorporate more and more non-traditional elements, such as effect tracks, sound drops, and enveloping electroacoustic works combining live and pre-recorded elements. Much of his work is rooted in a large ensemble context; his wind ensemble works have received thousands of performances throughout the US including at Midwest, State Music Conferences including Texas, Colorado, and Kentucky Music Educators Associations, Colleges and Universities like Baylor University, the University of North Texas, and Syracuse University, and at other regional music festivals (ITEA). In recent years Jason has focused on more intimate chamber musical settings, including collaborations with solo musicians such as trumpeter Kate Amrine , Cellist Carolyn Regula (The Cello Doll) and vocalist Michaela Catapano, as well as chamber groups across the US (Chicago Brass Choir), while continuing expand his sizable catalog of works for larger instrumental forces. Jason is well known for his work as an educator, dedicated to providing young promising musicians with the foundational experiences on which a lifetime of music-making can be built, and is pursuing research into the ways that music students process their experiences as learners and performers. Combining his long career in music with a deep love of science fiction and a natural talent for storytelling, Jason recently launched his first podcast, “Beyond the Belt: Adventures from the Outer Rim.” “Beyond the Belt” is a collection of 8 original dramatic science fiction episodes for which he served as writer, producer, and composer. It tells the story of a scientific research experiment gone horribly wrong. With Zombies (of course!). Jason has released three digital albums in recent years, including the Season One Soundtrack from the Beyond the Belt podcast, “1000 Steps to Nowhere", a collection of chamber music compositions, and most recently “The Dead Teach the Living,” featuring nine vocal collaborations ranging from solo works to Orchestral compositions. The title track was named a finalist for the 2025 American Prize in Orchestral Composition, earning an Honorable Mention. Jason is a lover of dogs, video games, and all things Star Wars (yes, even the prequels). He is also a husband, father of two budding musicians, and a patron of art forms that stretch traditional boundaries. He currently lives in Waxhachie, TX with his family. He can occasionally be sighted lurking at select music conferences. www.jasonnitsch.com

    1h 33m

  2. MAR 24

    3.8 - Beth Anderson

    Beth Anderson (M.F.A./M.A.) is a critically acclaimed composer of neo-romantic, avant-garde music, text-sound works, and musical theater. Born in Kentucky, she studied primarily in California with John Cage, Terry Riley, Robert Ashley and Larry Austin at Mills College and U.C. Davis. She is a member of Broadcast Musicians Inc. (BMI), the American Composers' Forum, International Alliance of Women in Music, the New Music USA, Poets and Writers, and New York Women Composers. She resides in New York City where she produces Women's Work, a concert series, for Greenwich House Arts. https://www.beand.com

    48 min

  3. MAR 17

    3.7 - Paula Dreyer

    Paula Dreyer is a classically-trained contemporary composer and pianist living in the Pacific Northwest who seeks to inspire, include, and connect individuals through music. She has created her own, unique sound – weaving a wide range of influences from the Romantic and Impressionistic eras, film composers, Spanish music, and solo improvisation albums from the masters. Listeners are transported through her music that is sophisticated yet intimate, melancholic yet hopeful, hauntingly melodic, and rhythmically alive. Combining multi-disciplinary art forms and collaborating with various artistic mediums, Paula’s shows are a transporting, mesmerizing experience for the eyes, ears, and heart. Frequent collaborator and award-winning choreographer Kevin Jenkins says this: “Paula infuses her music with perfectly phrased emotion that makes my mind explode with movement concepts. The only challenge is keeping up with her brilliance.” Kevin has choreographed her compositions and recordings with Jacob’s Pillow featuring dancers from Boston Ballet, as well as St. Louis Ballet, Ballet 5:8 in Chicago, and various dance conservatories. San Francisco-based artist Adrian Arias has created paintings inspired directly by her music, many of which will be featured in her concerts. An avid performer, Paula has played at world-class venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Green Music Center, and with the Santa Rosa and Monterey Symphonies. Paula was a band member for the legendary show Beach Blanket Babylon, which the New York Times calls “a treasured San Francisco staple.” She was the winner of the Montréal Classical Music Festival and was a chamber music semi-finalist in the Concert Artist Guild Competition at New York’s Merkin Hall. She was the recipient of the full scholarship Poné Award during her master’s degree in Chamber Music Performance in San Francisco. She also holds music degrees from McGill University in Montréal and Interlochen Arts Academy and studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She completed an artist residency at Obras in Portugal, where she composed much of the music for her Little Gems for Piano books. The books have sold thousands of copies worldwide and were recently published in China. Paula is also a well-respected educator and directs a private teaching studio in addition to presenting internationally to piano teachers and adjudicating various festivals. In her debut original solo album Central Star, Paula uses music as a soul awakening, energy shifting experience. During these tumultuous times when we can feel disconnected and distracted, she seeks to alter the vibration of the room- providing fuel for the soul through the unifying force of music. Central Star tells a personal story about the powers of imagination, intuition, and creative expression during challenging times of transition, as well as offering a therapeutic medium during everyday life. This spellbinding album speaks to the triumphant yet calming creative spirit and evokes feelings from the universal human experience. Prepare to elevate your spirit and embark on a sonic and visual journey like no other. Paula currently spearheads her concert series Piano Flow Live and her improv program Piano Flow. Piano Flow Live combines live music, outdoor adventure and visual arts. She gathers local creatives such as musicians, artists, photographers, and filmmakers to create unique events under the umbrella of the Bend Creative Music Project. You can find her performing innovative shows in ski lodges and along the Deschutes River. She recently completed a tour of China. She was invited to present her Little Gems books and perform candlelit concerts in eight cities across China. A dynamic pianist, composer, and educator, Paula captivates global audiences through her Little Gems for Piano books, albums, concerts, and the transformative Piano Flow improvisation program, fostering inspiration and connection worldwide. Paula lives in the mountain town of Bend, Oregon with her husband and their two daughters. https://pauladreyer.com

    43 min

  4. MAR 10

    3.6 - Lee Actor

    Composer and conductor Lee Actor (b. 1952 in Denver, Colorado) was one of five composers selected in November 2014 as an "Honored Artist of the American Prize", the first time this prestigious award has been bestowed. He has won a number of awards for his compositions, most recently for Symphony No. 2, third place winner of the 2019-20 American Prize in Orchestral Composition, Dance Rhapsody, winner of the 2016 Austin Civic Orchestra Composition Competition and second place winner of the 2011 American Prize in Orchestral Composition, Redwood Fanfare, a winner of the 2009 Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra Fanfare Competition, and Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, the First Prize Winner in the 2007 International Horn Society Composition Contest. Divertimento for Small Orchestra was a finalist for the 2016 American Prize in Orchestra Composition, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra received a Special Judge's Citation for the 2015 American Prize in Orchestral Composition, Concerto for Timpani and Orchestrawas a finalist for the 2014 American Prize in Orchestral Composition, String Quartet No. 1was a finalist for the 2014 American Prize in Chamber Music Composition, Circus Symphonicus was a finalist in the Columbia Orchestra's 2013 American Composer Competition, Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra was a finalist for the 2013 American Prize in Orchestral Composition, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra was a finalist for the 2012 American Prize in Orchestral Composition, Variations and Fugue for Orchestra was a finalist in both the Columbia Orchestra's 2007 American Composer Competition and the Holyoke Civic Symphony's 2005 Composition Competition, and Prelude to a Tragedy was selected as a finalist in the Columbia Orchestra's 2005 American Composer Competition. Conductor/composer Robert Ian Winstin has written, “Lee Actor's Prelude to a Tragedy is one of the best written new works I've had the privilege to conduct or record. It is clear, precise and very tightly written. It has a style that is completely original … an incredible orchestral tour de force as written by an immensely talented composer.” The CD including Mr. Winstin’s performance of this piece with the Kiev Philharmonic was released by ERM Media in March 2005. Actor has received commissions from the Palo Alto Philharmonic, the Redwood Symphony, the Mission Chamber Orchestra, the Silicon Valley Symphony, the Saratoga Symphony, the University of South Dakota, the Skaneateles Festival, the South Bay Guitar Society, the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra, and pianist Benny Gambino. His works have been performed by more than 90 orchestras and bands in the U.S. and around the world. His first CD of orchestral works was released by MMC Recordings in June 2005, which Records International called “...one of the best new symphonic discs to have come our way.” A second CD was released by Albany Records in April 2008, featuring Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, which was nominated for 2008 “Best of the Year” classical CD by Classical 94.5/WNED in Buffalo, NY. A third CD of orchestral music, featuring Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra and Dance Rhapsody, was released in April 2011 by Navona Records, and subsequently named to Audiophile Audition’s list of “Best of the Year Discs for 2011”. Navona Records released Actor's fourth solo CD in February 2015, featuring Concerto for Piano and Orchestra and Symphony No. 3. Actor’s orchestral music is characterized by its dramatic impact and emotional expressivity, featuring a striking use of harmony, counterpoint, motivic development, and lyricism with a fresh, modern flavor. These attributes are most prominent in his large-scale dramatic works. Conductor Jason Klein has written of Symphony No. 1: “Lee Actor ... is a composer of remarkable skill whose 3-movement symphony has strength, character, and generous helpings of brilliance and humor”, and described Symphony No. 2 as “… energetic, intense, and highly polished.” In a review of Concerto for Violin and Orchestrafor the San Mateo County Times, Keith Kreitman wrote: “This is a major work deserving of national attention. … This concerto verges on masterpiece”. In July 2008, Concerto for Horn and Orchestra was performed at the 40th International Horn Symposium by the Colorado Symphony and soloist Bernhard Scully, principal horn of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. The piece has subsequently received numerous performances, and is quickly becoming a favorite of horn players around the world. His work has been characterized by conductor Kirk Trevor as “… music of the highest quality in craftsmanship, inventiveness, and imagination.” A former violinist with the Albany (N.Y.) Symphony Orchestra, Actor has advanced degrees in both engineering, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and music composition, from San Jose State University. He has studied composition with Donald Sur, Brent Heisinger, Charles Jones, and Andrew Imbrie, and conducting with Angelo Frascarelli, David Epstein and Higo Harada. Actor was named Composer-in-Residence of the Palo Alto Philharmonic in 2002, following his appointment as Assistant Conductor in 2001, and was Assistant Conductor of the Nova Vista Symphony from 2008 to 2010. He is a member of ASCAP®, who recently named Actor the recipient of an ASCAPlus award for the 17th time. He has received awards and grants from ASCAP, the American Music Center, the International Horn Society, the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra, and The American Prize in Composition. https://www.leeactor.com

    52 min

  5. MAR 3

    3.5 - Katherine Saxon

    Katherine Saxon (b. 1981) was born in Santa Monica, California. She graduated magna cum laude from Williams College in Massachusetts where she studied vocal performance with Brad Wells and composition with Ileana Perez Velazquez. She obtained a Masters of Music at the University of Oregon studying with composers Robert Kyr and David Crumb and received her Ph.D. in Music from the University of California, Santa Barbara where she studied with Joel Feigin and Clarence Barlow. Her music reflects humanity’s relationship with the natural world, both as part of it and in conflict with it. She has been praised for the sophistication and intricacy of her work, as well as her ability to write gracefully and melodically, especially for the human voice. Dr. Saxon lives in Santa Barbara with her husband, two daughters, and cat. In between writing music and parenting, she teaches piano lessons on her back porch, conducts the Santa Barbara Treble Clef Chorus, and directs the Santa Barbara Community Early Music Ensemble. Her hobbies include; defending her garden from rabbits, quilting, playing the lute badly, and endless crafting with her children. https://www.katherinesaxon.com

    1h 9m

  6. FEB 24

    3.4 - Amy Beth Kirsten

    Amy Beth Kirsten is celebrated for her theatrical and conceptual approach to composition. Her music fuses voice, instrument, language, and movement into works that blur boundaries between concert, theatre, and ritual. The 2025–26 concert season includes the completion of Eating the Underworld, a pop-song cycle for Bergamot Quartet and the composer as vocalist; the release of Misfit Toys, a grade 5 work for concert band; and her participation in the 2025 Midwest Clinic in Chicago. Kirsten’s previous season featured the premiere of Infernal Angel, an opera created with the Curtis Opera Theatre and baritone Ty Boque, inspired by the life of Gilles de Rais and his relationship with Joan of Arc. Earlier evening-length works include Savior (2018), a mystical re-telling of the story of Joan of Arc commissioned for the 20th anniversary of Chicago Symphony’s MusicNOW and named to the Chicago Tribune’s “10 Best Classical Concerts of 2018”; QUIXOTE (2017), a 90-minute theatrical piece created during a residency at Montclair State University; and Colombine’s Paradise Theatre (2014), commissioned and produced by the multi-Grammy-winning eighth blackbird, praised by The Washington Post as a “tour de force” and by The New York Times as “dark, wild, and engrossing.” She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2014 with strange pilgrims, a multimedia work for chorus, orchestra, and film. In addition to her musical work, Kirsten is also a writer whose poetry has appeared in several journals. Writing as Aster Isler, she recently completed her full manuscript, Giving Up—the beginning of a parallel literary journey that threads through her compositional voice. Her poetry can be found in Oberon (2024), Sol Magazine (2010), Avatar Review (2009), and Red Wheelbarrow (2008). Kirsten is also dedicated to mentoring the next generation of performing and creative artists. At The Juilliard School, she mentors composers and interdisciplinary creators through her composition studio and teaches two courses — Theatre Études and OperaCOMP. At The Curtis Institute of Music, she teaches individual composition lessons. Previous faculty posts include Oberlin College and Conservatory, the Peabody Institute, and Longy School of Music. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with her beloved doodle-hound, Roux-ga-Roux and her slow-wandering orange cat, Higgs-B. https://www.amybethkirsten.com

    1h 5m

  7. FEB 17

    3.3 - Laura Nevitt

    Laura Nevitt is a conductor, composer, and educator based in Boston. She earned degrees in Composition and Music Education from the University of South Carolina, and a M.M. in Choral Conducting at Boston Conservatory, studying with George Case. As a fierce advocate for new music, they love working with composers, and have conducted over 30 premieres of new works. She is especially passionate about giving voice and space to gender marginalized musicians and poets through choral and vocal music. Laura is the Founder & Artistic Director of Lilith Vocal Ensemble, Children’s Chorus and Chamber Choir Director at New England Conservatory Prep, a Teaching Artist with Boston Lyric Opera and Handel & Haydn Society, and Music Director at First Parish UU in Needham, MA, where she is also Artistic Director of the newly formed “To The Fore” Concert Series, focused on bringing historically marginalized voices to the forefront. She is a Founding Member and Former Co-Artistic Director of Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, and former Associate Conductor at Voices Boston Children’s Choir. Their compositions are frequently performed by musicians across the country, some highlights being the Handel & Haydn Society Youth Choruses, Choral Arts Initiative, the Evelyn Duo, Voices Boston Children’s Choir, Boston Conservatory Choir, Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, Lilith Vocal Ensemble, BRACE New Music Choir, the UofSC Concert Choir, sparks & wiry cries’ songSLAM, Source Song Festival, Quorum, Opera on Tap Boston, Una Voce (Community Music Center of Boston), the East Central College Choir in Missouri, First Parish UU in Needham, and the Choir of Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church in Cambridge, First Presbyterian Church (Columbia, SC) Children’s Choirs, Greater Columbia Children’s Choir, and the First Presbyterian Church Chamber Choir during the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. ​ At First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC, she directed the Primary and Junior Choirs, supervised the Children’s Music Program, and was a section leader in their Chancel and Chamber Choir. In Columbia, she kept a private studio of guitar and voice students, and was the chorus teacher at CrossRoads Intermediate School in Irmo, SC. During her time as a choral director in South Carolina, Nevitt’s ensembles consistently earned superior ratings at the Carowinds Festival of Music in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Music USA Festival in Orlando, Florida. As a soprano, she has performed Reich’s Drumming with New York based ensemble So Percussion. https://www.lauranevitt.com

    52 min

  8. FEB 10

    3.2 - Dale Trumbore

    Dale Trumbore (b. 1987) is a Los Angeles-based composer and writer whose music has been called "devastatingly beautiful" (The Washington Post) and praised for its "soaring melodies and beguiling harmonies deployed with finesse" (The New York Times). Her compositions have been performed widely in the U.S. and internationally by Atlanta Master Chorale, Central West Ballet, the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin, Conspirare and the Miró Quartet, Los Angeles Children's Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Modesto Symphony, National Youth Choir of Scotland, Pasadena Symphony, and Seraphic Fire. ​ A recipient of prizes and grants from American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), ASCAP, the Barlow Endowment, and Chamber Music America, Trumbore has also been awarded artist residencies at Copland House, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, Tusen Takk, and Ucross. Her music is available through Boosey & Hawkes, G. Schirmer,Murphy Music Press, and Graphite Marketplace. ​ Trumbore's first book, Staying Composed: Overcoming Anxiety and Self-Doubt Within a Creative Life, was hailed as a "treasure trove of practical strategies for moving your artistic career forward" (Angela Myles Beeching, author of Beyond Talent). Her second book, Composing a Living: a Music Creator's Guide to Money, Relationships and Business, is newly available from Oxford University Press and was co-written with Dr. Brandon Elliott. Trumbore has also written extensively about working through creative blocks and establishing a career in music in essays for Cantate Magazine, the Center for New Music, and NewMusicBox. Her poetry and short fiction have been featured in Southern Indiana Review, PRISM International, New Delta Review, and Pacifica Literary Review. Trumbore holds degrees in Music Composition and English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland, as well as a Master of Music degree in Music Composition from the University of Southern California. Originally from New Jersey, Trumbore currently lives in Southern California with her spouse and cats. https://www.daletrumbore.com

    1h 20m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Composer Chat is a podcast where we talk a little bit about music, a little bit about life, and a whole lot about whatever we feel like at the moment! Each episode I am joined by a special guest composer and we will chat about their pathway towards success in their musical career!

Information

  • Creator
    Jason K. Nitsch
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    96
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Jason K. Nitsch
  • Show Website
    Composer Chats

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