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Composer Visits Fort Runestad's Musical Approach Takes on a Different Beat The Fort Osage High School choral students recently got a rare opportunity to work with award-winning composer and conductor, Jake Runestad. Runestad was in Kansas City as a guest conductor and clinician at The University of Missouri Kansas City Peace Project, and agreed to visit Fort Osage High School to clinic the students who are performing one of his pieces for contest. Buckner Clarion staff writer Jessica Mauzey, a spectator at the music clinic, couldn't praise Runestad's work enough. "He has a passion for music and his talents were prevalent during his visit with the choir," she said. "He is very high- energy and found interesting ways to connect with the students. It was enjoyable to watch him working with the kids in a fun manner, but also encouraging them to learn in ways different from the mainstream methods." Similar to his teaching methods, Runestad's résumé exceeds "the norm." He has received commissions and performances from leading ensembles and organizations including Washington National Opera, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Seraphic Fire, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and more. Runestad travels extensively to work with musicians of all levels and often presents master classes on composition and musical interpretation. A diverse composer, Mr. Runestad has a creative output represented in many genres including music for orchestra, wind band, chorus, chamber ensembles, jazz ensemble and opera. While pursuing diverse musical endeavors, Runestad has received awards and grants from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the American Composers Forum, the Peabody Conservatory, New Music USA, the Otto Bremmer Foundation, VocalEssence, the Virginia Arts Festival, the National Association for Music Education, the Association for Lutheran Church Musicians and the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota. In the summers of 2011 and 2012, Runestad was awarded full fellowships for the John Duffy Composer's Institute at the Virginia Arts Festival where his operas, "The Toll" and "The Abbess and the Acolyte," were performed. Acclaimed composers Bernard Rands, Libby Larsen, David Lang, Tania León, John Musto and John Duffy have all worked closely with Runestad. Runestad's "Nada Te Turbe" was awarded the 2013 Raabe Prize for Excellence in Sacred Music Composition by the Association for Lutheran Church Musicians. As a conductor, Runestad has worked with student, volunteer and professional ensembles across the country. He was the founder and artistic director of the Anima Nova Chamber Choir, a professional vocal ensemble based in Baltimore, Maryland. Recognized for being an advocate of new music, Runestad has conducted the premiere performances of several of his own works as well as programmed those of up-and-coming composers. A baritone vocalist, Runestad has performed under prominent conductors including Helmuth Rilling, Dale Warland, Philip Brunelle, Weston Noble and Ed Polochick. "Dreams of the Fallen," Runestad's largest work to date, received its premiere performance with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, in November of 2013. Scored for piano, chorus and orchestra, this work concentrated on the impact of war on an individual, with the help of award-winning poet and Iraq War veteran, Brian Turner. "Dreams of the Fallen" was commissioned by a group of five orchestras and has garnered attention from famous publications such as Symphony Magazine and the New York Times. Runestad holds a master's degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize- winning composer, Kevin Puts. He has also studied extensively with acclaimed composer, Libby Larsen. Runestad's music is published by Boosey & Hawkes and JR Music. As for the clinic, Mauzey described the event as very artistic. For instance, there were no words, simply sounds – something out of the Lion King, she said. Mauzey described how Runestad would ask the guys to act like sumo wrestlers to create sounds in the lower register. "The students really got into it," she said. By Morgan Nail

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