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John Mackey shares the story of his unusual journey to becoming a composer

johnmackey.com

Melony Dodson talks with John Zastoupil, director of the UT Wind Ensemble and composer, John Mackey. Mackey is in residency this week at the UT College of Music. The UT Wind Ensemble performs his composition, Wine-Dark Sea on Thursday, September 26th.

The University of Tennessee Wind Ensemble is presenting its first concert of the year on Thursday, September 26th at 7:30pm. The concert will be given in Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial Building and will feature internationally renowned composer, John Mackey, who is in residency this week at the UT College of Music. Also joining the wind ensemble is the Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS) from Louisville, KY. The wind ensemble will perform Mackey's Wine-Dark Sea, Joaquin Turina's La Procession du Rocio, and Hilary Purrington's apricity, which will be a regional premiere. The YPAS will present Frozen Cathedral by Mackey, along with several other challenging works for wind band.

While in residency, the composer will work with all three bands at the University of TN, as well as with conducting students and composition majors. John Zastoupil, director of bands at UT, shares in this interview that it has become a priority of the band program to bring in living composers to work with students. Additionally, Zastoupil has invited talented high school bands to share the stage with the Wind Ensemble during their concerts as a way to inspire and motivate these young musicians.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Mackey took an unusual path to becoming a composer and he has his grandfather and home computers from the early 80's to thank. John never received formal music training until college, where he attended the Cleveland Institute of Music, which allowed him to apply by submitting a music portfolio and passing a music theory test. He then pursued a master of music degree in composition from the Juilliard School, studying with John Corigliano.

Mackey didn't start out writing music for band. Initially, he focused on music for orchestra. But a commission (and the incentive of a pay check) inspired him to write for the medium...a decision that Mackey says he was glad he made.

Learn more about John Mackey in this interview with Morning Concert host, Melony Dodson, and get a behind-the-scenes look at his two pieces that will be presented on this concert.

Next week, the UT Concert and Symphonic Bands will also perform music by Mackey and other composers. Their concert is on Thursday, October 3rd at 7:30pm, also in Cox Auditorium. These performances are free and open to the public. Additional information can be found at https://calendar.utk.edu/event/wind-ensemble-concert?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=Calendar

Melony calls the beautiful mountains of Boone, N.C., home, although she was born near Greensboro, N.C. There’s just something about those Blue Ridge Mountains that got in her blood and never left after she moved there to attend Appalachian State University (ASU). While at ASU, she majored in piano performance and music therapy and began to cultivate a love for accompanying and for collaborating with other musicians. This soon led her to earn a master’s degree in collaborative piano at the University of Tennessee, which she attended from 2006-2008.