Born: January 10, 1979 Primary Instrument: Cello
Called an “adventurous cello songstress” (Time Out New York), cellist, composer, and vocalist Jody Redhage's dual passions for chamber music and new music have led her to participate in an array of cutting-edge projects. Praised for her “exceptional technical command,” (Steve Smith, Night After Night), Jody has premiered over 100 works, including many of her own compositions for chamber ensembles, as well as premieres of fellow composers' works. Jody has also spent the past seven years developing the ability to simultaneously sing and play complex, rhythmically intricate and independent musical lines. As recipient of the 2005 Hertz Grant, Jody was able to develop this project by commissioning a repertoire of 21st century art song for voice, cello, and electronics from some of today’s most talented emerging composers. Her debut CD on New Amsterdam Records (www.newamsterdamrecords.com), All Summer in a Day, has been called “a freewheeling, slightly edgy and altogether “different” kind of musical experience…highly rewarding and worthwhile” (Dave Lewis, All Music Guide).
Jody graduated with her master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music in May 2005, and she now resides in Brooklyn. Her interest in a wide variety of musical genres has led her to regularly perform with classical, jazz, rock, and pop groups in New York City and throughout North America. Jody has worked with composers Pierre Boulez, George Crumb, Richard Danielpour, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Julia Wolfe and additional notable collaborations include performances with members of the Bang on a Can All- Stars, the Flux Quartet, Sequitur, Tactus Contemporary Ensemble, Neil Diamond and band, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Meatloaf, the Roots, Clay Aiken, Enya, Duncan Sheik, Guster, and Sufjan Stevens. Jody has appeared on TV playing on ABC's The View, the CBS Early Show, and NBC's The Today Show, Conan O’Brien, and the Rockefeller Christmas Spectacular. Her own compositions and music from her CD have been aired on several NPR stations, including WNYC's Evening Music and WFMU.
Jody’s original compositions are featured in her indie art song band, Fire in July. The group melds the sensitivity, detail and precision of art song and chamber music with the drive, intensity, and energy of pop, rock, and jazz improvisation. The multi-talented members of Fire in July are Jody on voice/cello, Ken Thomson on clarinet/bass clarinet; Alan Ferber on trombones; Dan Tepfer on piano; and Fred Kennedy on drums/percussion. Fire in July will be recording their first studio record in January 2009. Please visit www.jodyredhage.com for a list of upcoming performances, and listen to Fire in July at www.myspace.com/fireinjuly.
Jody is also director of the Ditmas Park Concert Series and Music Workshops, a community arts series sponsored by the Brooklyn Arts Council and the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs. The Ditmas Park Concert Series and Music Workshops connect the world-class musicians living in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn with the students and residents of the community. Each spring, the Series features workshops for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade neighborhood students, family concerts, and full-length evening concerts open to the public of all ages in a variety of venues in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The DPCS presents groups whose bandleaders write and perform live creative music, and who live walking distance from the venues.
Awards:
2009 Brooklyn Arts Council Community Regrant Award 2008 Brooklyn Arts Council Community Regrant Award 2005 Hertz Fellowship 2005 Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition Winner“Adventurous cello songstress” -Time Out NY
“A new music dynamo...Redhage is cultivating a growing repertoire of indie art song that breaches genre boundaries and makes for stirring listening.” -Musicworks Magazine
“Exceptional technical command” (Night After Night)
“a freewheeling, slightly edgy and altogether “different” kind of musical experience…highly rewarding and worthwhile” (Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide)
Disclaimer: All About Jazz is not responsible for the accuracy of the discographical data at the website(s) provided. If a link is no longer valid, please contact discography@allaboutjazz.com. Thank you.
Primary Instrument:
Cello
Location:
South Orange, NJ
Willing to teach:
Advanced students only.
Credentials/Background:
Jody Redhage, a passionate proponent of creative music,
teaches intermediate and advanced cello lessons, as well as
adventurous skills such as singing and playing at the same
time, composition, and improvisation. Redhage coaches
chamber music at Elm City Chamber Fest in New Haven, CT,
and at Lyra Summer Music in Randolph, VT. Redhage also
leads workshops on simultaneoulys singing and playing, and on
electro-acoustic performance.
Clinic/Workshop Information:
Redhage was a guest artist and clinician at the 2009 New
Directions Cello Festival held at Ithaca College in June, leading
workshops about the career path of a composer/performer, on
the simultaneous use of voice and cello, and on electro-acoustic
performance. Redhage also runs clinics introducing students
who play traditionally-classical instruments to improvisation,
original composition, and modern techniques. Redhage has
also developed a collaborative poetry and music residency
called "American Poetry Takes Flight Through Song." In each
residency, Redhage joins with a local poet, and uses two of the
poets works as lyrics for new compositions she writes and
premieres in the poets' town as part of a culminating recital. As
part of the residency, Redhage works with creative writing,
English, and music students, helping the students forge their
own poetry and music collaborations. For more information,
please visit www.jodyredhage.com
