Ep 35-Joel Puckett on Balancing The Composer's Life

Ep 35-Joel Puckett on Balancing The Composer’s Life

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Named as one of National Public Radio’s listeners’ favorite composers under the age of 40, Joel Puckett is one of the most performed composers in America. Hailed by the Washington Post as “visionary,” Mr. Puckett believes in the life-changing power of music to heal and provide comfort to those who need it.

Minnesota Opera recently announced it has commissioned Puckett for, “The Black Sox Scandal,” a full-length opera with a libretto by Academy Award Winner, Eric Simonson about the rise and fall of the 1919 Chicago White Sox. “The Black Sox Scandal” is a tragic tale of mythic proportions, ripe with greed, power, romance, and redemption, all set against the backdrop of America’s favorite pastime and will premiere in the 2018-19 season.

Puckett’s music, which has been consistently awarded and recognized, was recently selected by Chorus America and the American Composers Forum as the recipient of the Dale Warland Singers Commission for a partnership with Philadelphia’s premier chamber choir, The Crossing.

Joel has received numerous awards from organizations such as the American Composers Forum, BMI, Chorus America and the American Bandmasters Association. Currently on the classroom faculty at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, he holds advanced degrees from the University of Michigan. His music is represented worldwide by Bill Holab music.

Give the Composer on Fire podcast a Rating and Review!

In this episode Joel discusses how the composer and balance all the responsibilities of life.

Topics discussed in this episode:

Writing the wrong notes
Life balance
Positive thinking
Being in shape to help creativity
Models for life and composing
Use of language and mindset
Opportunities vs burdens
Setting compositional goals
Writing & listening to uncomfortable things
Stephen King’s On Writing
Character writing
James MacMillan
Michael Torke

Website:

www.joelpuckett.com

Recommended Listening:

James MacMillan, Vigil

The Podcast Mission

To help composers with the business end of writing music through mindset, marketing, and business skills.

The Philosophy

I believe that composers are self-employed small business owners. In order to succeed in getting our music in front of people who are interested in hearing it we need to know essential business skills such as marketing and networking. Building a successful career as a freelance composer is possible and thinking like an entrepreneur will help composers make a living writing music.

The Promise

I promise to deliver high-quality free content through the podcast and newsletter that will help you build your career as a composer. I want my free content to be better than other people's paid-for content. I also have online courses and am available for speaking and coaching.

I think this is such innovative and important work. I love it. It really helps to have a composer asking questions to another composer.

Kurt Knecht

If you have any interest in composing, song writing, or the process of music making from start to finish you need to subscribe to this podcast. It's run by a wonderful composer and he has wonderful guests of the highest level.

Timothy Tharaldson

What a wonderful way to use composers as resources for others!

Tina Davidson

This podcast is an excellent resource for composers at all stages of their careers. It is composers talking shop to other composers, addressing the issues that matter to our careers. It is so well thought out and executed—a total class act. Bravo to Garrett Hope for creating this much needed and well curated hub of knowledge for our community.

reeesm

Hey Garrett, again, this is so generous—to offer contemporary composers, conductors, and innovative thinkers in the new music field, the opportunities to talk about music. Really enjoyed doing a segment with you and the exchange of thoughts in talking with you about my reflections about being a composer and the paths taken toward releasing this orchestral CD, Dream Vapors. Thanks!

Rain17

By taking the time from his own life as a composer to offer the rest of us a window on how our peers work, Garrett is a truly wonderful musical citizen! Through the preparation he does for each interview, and the intelligence of the resulting conversations, Garrett has created a tremendous archive that will encourage and inspire countless music-makers. Thank you for this series, Garrett!

Alex Shapiro

Garrett Hope's series gives a wonderfully colorful and dynamic insight into the world of new music, featuring many important and diverse voices in the community today. A must-listen for anyone working within the field.

Maetstra | Maestro

A wonderful podcast and a great resource!

mgnumes

I don't even know where to start describing how incredible and important this podcast is. As a podcast aficionado who already has a long playlist of my tried and true favorites, I didn't anticipate this one completely knowing the others out of the water. In terms of helpfulness, this podcast is a must for composers today. Here are a few reasons I love the show: *The consistent format serves to highlight the content, trends, and differences between each guest. *The host, Garrett Hope, has ample experience as both a working composer and as someone who has spoken with hundreds of composers about their own career experiences, so he really knows what questions to ask and which subjects to delve into. *Practical, specific recommendations. I leave almost every episode with at least one concrete thing I can tweak or try in my own practice, promotion, business, or approach otherwise. It's not just BS, generic, arrogant sound bites from people not wanting to discuss the nitty gritty; the guests are great about giving valuable, honest perspectives. *The guests span a pretty diverse range, and it's great to see how different kinds of people of different ages and experience levels, with different interests, abilities, and dictates carve out their own careers. It's not just a monolithic image of what a composer needs to be. There are also non-composer guests as well, which is helpful, because we composers obviously need to be aware of other colleagues (like performers)! *Each episode really flies by. The episodes range from 30–60 minutes, but it's always the most riveting, inspiring, thought-provoking hour of my day/drive. Thanks for this wonderful gift you're giving to the new music world!

Chrysanthe Tan

A must-listen podcast for composers, performers, or any independent artist.

Anthony Lanman