Jeremy Zuckerman

A Blessing

jeremy — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:44:58 +0000

Just off the Highway to Rochester, Minnesota
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.

-James Wright

‘Break…Into Blossom’, Michael Feldman, piano

testing audio

jeremy — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 07:35:18 +0000

Emerge

Scottish Dance Theatre

admin — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:26:21 +0000

I just returned from a 10 day trip to Dundee, UK to work with choreographer Ben Levy and the Scottish Dance Theatre. One of those experiences that really makes me feel deeply fortunate. (My music brought me to a place I had never been, to work with a ridiculously talented group of dancers and designers whom I’d never met.) I have collaborated with Ben before and his creativity is just untethered on this project. With his highly detailed and technical choreography and his super-minimal and profound narrative he’s developing for the piece, homeboy is blowing my mind.

To be honest, my first few days there were fairly trying. The process was unconventional and causing me a lot of stress. To jump in and write anything of substance without a strong understanding of the piece’s big picture and my usual tools was more or less impossible for me. But this trip wasn’t really about creating brilliance. It was a preliminary part of the process and what it required were broad strokes and experimentation, not a polished, developed work. I had to be willing to put myself in a vulnerable place and I fought the shit out of it… Eventually I gave in after realizing that every single one of the dancers was doing that every day physically, creatively and emotionally.

Not sure how much of the work I made during the trip is going to make it into the final piece but working that closely with Ben and SDT has given me a complex understanding of the dance and narrative. I will be composing the score till the end of January and it will premier in February at the Dundee Rep Theater, UK.

(hi to: garance, sally, janet, solene, natalie, jori, toby, matthew, james, ellen, audrey, joan, mark, amanda c, amanda b, emma, amy, and all my new friends…)

Subito Grant

jeremy — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:42:13 +0000

thank you to the san francisco chapter of the american composers forum for awarding me a subito grant. this will enable me to record a flute solo that i completed during my stay at djerassi. i’m pretty curious about this one, as this piece was a bit of a departure both in style and process.

i’m embarrassed to admit i’m having a hard time remembering how i wrote the piece (written before baby, i.e. a lifetime ago) but i remember experimenting with many different techniques related to internal form and pitch sets. the process arose out of some lessons i was taking at the time with chris roze.

if after recording the piece is still worth talking about, i’ll further explain it’s compositional process. actually, i think it’ll be worth talking about regardless. to know why something works is good. to know why something doesn’t might be better…

Comic Con 2010

jeremy — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:00:27 +0000

I’ve been invited to participate in a composer’s panel at Comic Con on Thursday, July 22nd. I’m honored to be included among such esteemed company: Michael Giacchino (Lost), Wendy and Lisa (Heros), Nathan Barr (True Blood), Jim Dooley (Pushing Daisies) and John Ottman (Superman Returns).

Behind the Music: Composing for Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy Film & TV.
Thursday, July 22 @ 4:30. Room 24ABC.

There will be an ATLA promo soundtrack giveaway!

days of wonder

jeremy — Fri, 28 May 2010 05:24:54 +0000

where has the magic gone? where did all this inhibition come from? when did the need to quantify become so strong? blind intuition, you are missed. the wonder is still there, always has been and will always be. it’s waiting…return.

Inspiration Not Validation

jeremy — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:20:10 +0000

Reminder to self: Experience not to validate or invalidate, but to learn!

Egantic

jeremy — Wed, 12 May 2010 06:34:58 +0000

My good pal Ginormous just released a varied and eclectic album of remixes. I’ve got a couple on there. I haven’t had any of my music released before – this is a first for me. Even though my work for TV has a relatively large audience, this feels different somehow. This album will have a much smaller audience by comparison but it’s almost more exciting for me. Feels more personal. I’ve always been envious of my friends who have records out. Now I get a tiny taste of that.

‘Egantic’ on iTunes

Hello World

jeremy — Fri, 07 May 2010 22:02:06 +0000

Hello World. This is my first blog ever. In addition to posting related news, I plan to use this space to discuss various thoughts that have little or no pragmatic value but are important to me nonetheless. I imagine this will be mainly music-related content but hopefully I’ll have a little something to say about life, too.

I’m probably going to contradict myself often and I’m going to try really hard not to care about that. I’d like this to be a process of working towards letting go, allowing things to be less precious and to flow freely, rendering the voice of that internal judgmental bastard inaudible. That would be nice…

Feel free to comment, agree, disagree, or just say ‘hi’. Oh, and feel free to curse.