The Eastern Kentucky University Choirs will welcome composer Jake Runestad to campus for a two-day residency October 19-20, culminating with a concert featuring his compositions for choir and solo voice.
The concert, on Tuesday, Oct. 20, will include the world premiere of “The Winnowing,” commissioned by the University. “An Evening with Jake Runestad,” free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the EKU Center for the Arts.
The EKU Chamber Singers, Concert Choir and University Singers are led by Richard Waters, director of choral activities. Joining the choirs on the program will be EKU voice faculty Zachary Marshall, pianists Jennifer Marshall and Chase Moore, graduate conductors LeMorris Hunt and Travis Morris, and choirs from Berea College and Paul Laurence Dunbar High School.
Runestad is an award-winning and frequently-performed composer of “highly imaginative” (Baltimore Sun) and “stirring and uplifting” (Miami Herald) musical works. He has received commissions and performances from leading ensembles and organizations such as Washington National Opera, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Virginia Arts Festival, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Seraphic Fire, Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare, among others.
His visceral music and charismatic personality have fostered a busy schedule of commissions, residencies, workshops, and speaking engagements, enabling him to be one of the youngest full-time composers in the world. Runestad holds a master’s degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts. He has also studied extensively with acclaimed composer Libby Larsen. A native of Rockford, Illinois, Runestad is currently based in Minneapolis and his music is published by JR Music. For more information, visit www.jakerunestad.com.
For more information, contact Waters at richard.waters@eku.edu or call 859-622-1336.