Love, Joel
Joel Love
Hailed as “extremely moving” by New Music Box and “especially sweet” by the Austin American Statesman, the music of Joel Love (b. 1982) explores an eclectic mix of genres, from short video pieces to works for chamber and large ensembles.
Joel was commissioned to compose a new work, Lightscape, for the opening of light artist James Turrell’s The Color Inside in 2013. The Houston Chronicle commented that Lightscape “evocatively captures the emotion of The Color Inside.” Joel is the only two-time winner of the PARMA Recordings Composition Competition, which selected Lux and Synchronicity in Purple Minor for publication. His first work for wind ensemble, Aurora Borealis, was selected as finalist in the 3rd International Franck Ticheli Composition Contest.
Joel’s works have been performed by a number of large and small ensembles, exhibited at art galleries, and screened at theatres and festivals around the world. Recent highlights include a number of performances of his new saxophone octet,Three Images, including the Royal College of Music Saxophone Ensemble and the faculty of the American Saxophone Academy, both in the summer of 2017, and a performance of his first work saxophone quartet, In memoriam, by the award-winning Kenari Quartet during the Grand Prize Gayla Concert at the inaugural M-Prize competition in 2016. Recent commissions include a nation-wide consortium led by Connie Frigo for a new concerto for alto saxophone with wind ensemble accompaniment, a new set of saxophone miniatures for Musiqa in Houston, TX, and commission for a new work for chorus, soloists, and orchestra from the Austin-based Panoramic Voices.
His film scores include the documentary film Stitched, official selection at the 2011 Carmel Art and Film Festival, as well as a short film Kidfellas, “Best Musical Score” at Houston’s 2011 48-Hour Film Project. Last year, Joel’s score for Socks in the City won honorable mention for “Best Musical Score” at New York City’s 2015 48-Hour Film Project. Other notable collaborations with artists from other disciplines feature a city-wide public art exhibit with artist Karyn Olivier, Inbound: Houston, and a 3-month installation by Prince V. Thomas, On Joy, On Sorrow at the Houston Center for Photography, praised by the Houston Chronicle as ”a beautiful piece that feels cleansing to watch.”
Joel recently completed a D.M.A. in Composition from the University of Texas at Austin and holds degrees from The University of Houston’s Moores School of Music (M.Music) and Lamar University’s Mary Morgan Department of Music (B.Music). He lives in Houston, TX, where he teaches music at Houston Community College’s Southwest location in Stafford, TX.
http://www.joellove.com/
