We reached our funding goal! Thank you!

We here at SJCE are so excited and thankful that we reached our funding goal of $1500 to make our first record.  We recorded 7 compositions by local Seattle composers Samantha Boshnack, Beth Fleenor, Jim Knodle, Chad McCullough, Nate Omdal, Michael Owcharuk, and Philadelphia composer Michael Catts.

We had a lot of fun at the recording session and this video shows it:

Look for the record in December 2011.

Thank you to our gracious donors who made this happen:

Sustaining Patrons: Basil Gavalas, Ed Arnold, Olena Schumylowych, Justin Smith & Jeanne Freng, Anna de Santis.

Executive Producers: Kim Dalton, Marsha Omdal, Liz Sanderson.

Associate Producers: Alden Kroll, Danielle Vaughn, Karen Bermudez, Colleen Benson, Robert Ross.

Producers: Josie Herman, Richard Rodseth, Joshua Shafkind, Catherine Grealish, Reed Omdal.

Community Partners:

Recording studio time made possible in part by a grant from Jack Straw Productions.

Rehearsal space provided by Belltown Ballet and Conditioning Studio.

Food provided by Blue Moon Burgers.

The Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble is making our first record and we need your help!

The Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble is making our first record and we need your help! Please become part of our growing network of patrons, artists, and music and art lovers.

SJCE is asking you to help us raise $1500. Your money goes directly to produce the recording of 7 compositions by 7 local composers scored for a 12-piece ensemble of local musicians.

In return for your support we have some gifts for you:

• $10+ donation – high-quality digital download of the album and listing as producer in the album liner notes.
• $25+ donation – 1lb of exclusive SJCE blend coffee from Middlefork Roasters, plus the download, and listing as associate producer.
• $50+ donation – Band autographed poster of the album cover art by Nate Omdal, the coffee, the download, and a listing as executive producer.

Please feel free to donate absolutely any amount you can. No matter how big or small, every dollar counts!

SJCE goes into the studio on Oct. 9 and 10 and we can’t finish this project without your help.

Want to take advantage of your employer’s donation matching?  Please contact Michael Owcharuk (michael dot owcharuk at gmail dot com) for more info and added perks for you and your company.

Here is some footage from last weeks rehearsal for the recording:

The SJCE is proud to announce that we have officially begun work on our first album. We are more that pleased to feature the work and talents of many fine musicians and composers who have contributed music for our past shows. We would not be in the position we are in today without the work and time of so many great individuals, and we are happy to have the opportunity to record and document the music that has been written for our organization thus far. If you would like to be a part of this process, please click the “Donate” button and make a simple donation of $5 to the SJCE. Your support makes our progress possible.

SJCE makes it’s first record!

Our first videoblog tells all!

SJCE is awarded the 4Culture Group Projects Grant!

SJCE is very pleased and honored to announce that we have received a Group Projects Grant from 4Culture, a Cultural Service Agency for King County WA.

The grant was awarded to help fund our most ambitious project yet: A Composer/Choreographer Collaboration in partnership with the Karin Stevens Dance Company. 4 choreographers will be paired with 4 SJCE composers to create 4 new dance pieces with original music. Music will be scored for a 9-piece band. The project is under way and performances are slated for March 2012.

In other news, SJCE is making a record!

On Oct. 9 and 10 we will be recording 8 original works that we have commissioned in the last 3 years. SJCE is excited to record music by Samantha Boshnack, Beth Fleenor, Jim Knodle, Michael Owcharuk, Nate Omdal, Michael Catts, Andrew Oliver and Elsa Nilsson. This recording is made possible in part by the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.

Jazz Impressions of Classic Video Game Music

 

March 25, 2011 – 7:00 pm
University Prep Founder’s Hall
8000 25^th Ave NE
$15 general admission, $8 students and seniors

Do you remember staying up all hours of the night to beat that one level? Was the music stuck in your head for days afterwords? Did you ever think about how it would sound if it was played by real musicians? Well, us too.

On Friday, March 25, the Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble will present the first of three concert programs for the 2011 season: Jazz Impressions of Classic Video Game Music. The concert will feature arrangements of music from Metroid, Kid Icarus, Super Mario Bros., Castlevania, and Street Fighter 2, written for a 17-piece big band.  

One of the unique qualities of Jazz is its ability to seamlessly assimilate many other different forms of music. So we figured why not video game music.  We asked composers Andrew Boscardin, Evan Flory-Barnes, Nate Omdal, Michael Owcharuk, Josh Rawlings, and Charlie Smith to come up with their interpretations of these iconic melodies. These composers work in a variety of styles ranging from jazz, classical, pop, hip-hop, and indie rock.

Please join us March 25 at University Prep for a family friendly concert that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Come hear the SJCE make their own Sonic Boom!

SEATTLE JAZZ COMPOSERS ENSEMBLE OFFICIAL KICK-OFF PARTY

October 11, 2010 – 7:30 pm

Tula’s

2214 2^nd Avenue

$5-15 sliding scale

Info: www.seattlejazzcomposersensemble.com

The Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble (SJCE), an organization dedicated to creating and performing new works by Pacific Northwest composers and arrangers, has existed since 2007, led by founders Michael Owcharuk and Nate Omdal.  This year the organization announced its intentions to grow into a sustainable arts support system, as an associated program of the non-profit fiscal sponsorship and consultation company Shunpike.

As a kick-off event, marking the efforts of this developing jazz advocacy group and a new season of unparalleled productions, the ensemble will perform original arrangements of Ennio Moricone’s music and compositions by local composers Jim Knodle, Samantha Boshnack, Beth Fleenor, Josh Rawlings, Ethan Thomas, Nelson Bell, Michael Owcharuk, and Nate Omdal, among others. All proceeds from the event go to the SCJE’s efforts to become a non-profit organization dedicated to propagating the work of local jazz composers.

more about the inaugural SJCE season

In addition to the kick-off event, the SJCE looks forward to a full year of activities including a Chef/Composer Pairing Series, an Open Call for scores for 17-piece big band, a Jazz Impressions of Classical Works concert, and a special event featuring original music for Burlesque.

more about Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble

SJCE was first conceived as a means to produce unique, large concert events that address a big problem observed in the music community:  the lack of infrastructure enabling emerging professional musicians to be compensated for composing, arranging, and performing new, large ensemble music. Since 2007, SJCE has performed many grassroots concerts and produced 3 successful, large ensemble concert events by obtaining grants, cash and in-kind donations.

SJCE exists to create and perform new compositions by Pacific Northwest composers and arrangers while providing sustainable opportunities for continuing education and work advancement for professional musicians. Within this context SJCE strives to provide the public with unique, compelling community events at the lowest cost possible, integrate cross-disciplinary elements to transcend the traditional concert format, showcase Pacific Northwest composers and musicians on a national level, and channel public and private funding directly into the hands of artists for their work.

more about the ARTISTS

Performing artists for the October SJCE concert include: Matt Reid, Scott Morning, Jim Knodle, Jason Parker, and Steve O’Brien (trumpet), Nelson Bell (trombone), Beth Fleenor, Ethan Thomas, Aaron Jenkins (woodwinds), Michael Owcharuk (piano), James Baumgart (guitar), Nate Omdal (bass), and Max Wood (drums), among others.

SJCE presents the Music of Ennio Morricone

JAZZ IMPRESSIONS OF ENNIO MORRICONE

Seattle composers pay tribute to the legendary film  music of Ennio Morricone J&J Music, Seattle Jazz  Composers Ensemble and University Prep are proud to  present Jazz Impressions of Ennio Morricone, a  special one-time performance by the Seattle Jazz  Composers Ensemble (SJCE).

On February 19th, 2010 the SJCE will perform its  second concert: Jazz Impressions of Ennio Morricone.  For the program, SCJE commissioned Seattle  composers and arrangers to create 4 new original  works and new arrangements of Morricone  classics, including music from the films The Good, the  Bad, and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars,  Il Mercenario, The Mission, Cinema Paradiso, and Inglourious Basterds (sic). Featured composers include Jim Knodle, Michael Owcharuk, Nate Omdal, Samantha Boshnack, Josh Rawlings, and Ethan Thomas. The music is to be performed by a 17 piece band featuring many of Seattle’s top musicians: Cynthia Mullis, Beth Fleenor, Jim Knodle, Jason Parker, Samantha Boshnack, Nelson Bell, Michael Owcharuk, Nate Omdal, Cody Rahn, Scott Morning, Aaron Jenkins, Brian Bermudez, Mike Dodge, Ron Gilchrist, Elsa Nilsson, Ron Gilchrist, and Greg Belisle-Chi. Jazz Impressions of Ennio Morricone will take place Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 7pm at University Prep Founder’s Hall, 8000 25th Avenue NE Seattle, WA 98115. The show is all ages and admission is $15 general / $8 students and seniors.

The Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble is a grassroots effort to create and perform new music for large ensemble by Pacific Northwest composers and arrangers. Co-directors Michael Owcharuk and Nate Omdal assemble project-based ensembles from a rotating cast of Seattle’s finest musicians. SJCE performs unique, themed concert programs that feature exciting new takes on influential music spanning across much of the Western music canon. Their first concert featured the music of Miles Davis’s classic The Birth of the Cool and received rave reviews.