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> Winona State University > News and Events > WSU Student Named Collegiate Composer of the Year
WSU Student Named Collegiate Composer of the Year Story by: WSU Office of University Communication 
Winona State University music student Jake Runestad has been selected as Minnesota Collegiate Composer of the Year by the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA) for the second consecutive year.
Runestad, a music major, submitted five original music scores to the MMEA composition contest. Four pieces won first place distinctions: "I Will Lift Mine Eyes," a choral piece; "Catalyst," for wind band; a saxophone duet entitled "Daylight Dance" and "Beautiful Memories" for flute and piano. His fifth piece, "Celebrate Our God" for adult and youth choir, praise band, piano, trumpet, and hand bells, won a second place award. All pieces were submitted to the contest as sheet music and recordings. Runestad said he is honored to receive this distinction for the second year. He said for many young composers, it can be a struggle to find an outlet to perform original works. Runestad is excited about the exposure this award will bring to his work. The MMEA judges were impressed with Runestad's efforts. One judge said, "Your musical ideas come through completely clear, you have a really good handle on dramatic pacing, it is extremely effective." Another judge said Runestad's work has "balance, prosody and range - everything is as it should be." Runestad said the world around him inspires him to compose. He counts the environment, personal emotions and interactions between all things as his main inspirations. "When I am composing, I am expressing myself through music," Runestad said. "Like a painter, I paint pictures except my pictures are music and my paint is sounds. I use color just as a painter would, my colors are in the form of sounds and combinations of the sounds give me an extensive palette of shades and hues to choose from." Runestad said he has been fascinated with music for as long as he can remember. At a young age he would mimic melodies he heard on the radio or at church on a piano. Shortly thereafter he joined youth choirs and began to play the saxophone. Since coming to WSU, Runestad has had many meaningful musical experiences. He said WSU faculty have encouraged his efforts as a composer and continually find outlets for his pieces to be performed. According to WSU professor Donald Lovejoy, "Jake brings an innate talent for music, a desire to achieve something meaningful and the discipline needed for rigorous study to his work." Runestad plans to graduate in spring 2009 with a degree in music education. He aspires to teach high school band after graduation and to eventually attend graduate school to further study composition. Runestad's first place pieces will be performed by WSU students at a composition contest recital at the MMEA state convention in February. To listen to Runestad's compositions visit his Web site at: www.freewebs.com/jakerunestad or click to hear: Catalyst and I Will Lift Mine Eyes. - WSU - 
Last Modified: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 9:49 by Kayla Walters |
