Jenni Brandon
Present
Jenni Brandon is a composer and conductor, creating music in collaboration with other musicians and artists. She writes music that is beautiful and lyrical, telling stories through memorable musical lines often influenced by the collaborator’s story, nature, and poetry.
She has been commissioned to write music for soloists, chamber ensembles, concertos, opera and orchestra and her catalogue contains over 70 works. Her music appears on over 21 albums on labels such as Delos, MSR Classics, Blue Griffin, New Focus Recordings, Summit Records, Albany, and Centaur. Her works have been awarded the Sorel Medallion, American Prize, Paderewski Cycle, Women Composers Festival of Hartford International Composition Competition, and Bassoon Chamber Music Composition Competition, and several of her works have been used as required repertoire for international competitions such as the International Double Reed Society Conference, the International Clarinetist Corona Competition, and the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Bassoon Competition. Her works appear on university audition repertoire lists including at schools like Julliard, Manhattan School of Music, Butler School of Music – The University of Texas at Austin, Fred Fox School of Music – The University of Arizona among others.
Her works are published and distributed by Boosey & Hawkes, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Graphite Publishing, TrevCo Music Publishing, Imagine Music, J.W. Pepper, and June Emerson. She runs Jenni Brandon Music which publishes and distributes her works worldwide.
As a conductor she often conducts her own works and works by living composers.
She has conducted community and church choirs throughout Southern California. Jenni conducted her one-act opera 3 PADEREWSKIS with libretto by Oliver Mayer in the Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center in 2019 following performances of the work in California and Poland. She also presents workshops and talks on collaboration and the business of music at universities and festivals across America, striving to create a supportive environment where collaboration leads to an exploration of ideas. Jenni is also the Co-Artistic Director for Heartland Marimba and helped develop several years of workshops and festivals for composers on writing for Marimba and Keyboard Percussion.
She received her undergraduate degree in Music Composition at West Chester University in Pennsylvania and her master’s degree in Music Composition from the University of Texas at Austin. She did doctoral work at the University of Southern California where she is currently an Adjunct Lecturer with the School of Dramatic Arts.
When she is not making music, Jenni is often on her yoga mat, either practicing or teaching yoga. Jenni enjoys spending time with her two dogs Harrison and Chianti and loves travelling with her husband to scuba dive in tropical waters. Visit jennibrandon.com.