Episode 62

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Published on:

8th Apr 2025

2.12 - Marti Epstein

Marti Epstein (November 25, 1959) started studying composition in 1977 with Professor Robert Beadell at the University of Nebraska. She has degrees from the University of Colorado and Boston University, and her principal teachers were Cecil Effinger, Charles Eakin, Joyce Mekeel, Bunita Marcus, and Bernard Rands. 

Marti was a fellow in composition at the Tanglewood Music Center in 1986 and 1988 and worked with Oliver Knussen and Hans Werner Henze. As a result of her association with Henze, she was invited by the City of Munich to compose her puppet opera, Hero und Leander, for the 1992 Munich Biennale for New Music Theater. She was on the jury for the 1994 Biennale.

Marti has received commissions from the Paul Jacobs Memorial Commissioning Fund, the CORE Ensemble, ALEA III, Sequitur New Music Ensemble, the Fromm Foundation, guitarist David Tanenbaum, the American Dance Festival, the A*DEvant-garde Festival of Munich, tubist Samuel Pilafian, flutist Marianne Gedigian, the New England Brass Quintet, the Iowa Brass Quintet, Boston Conservatory, Boston University Marsh Chapel Choir, pianist Kathleen Supové, the CrossSound New Music Festival of Juneau Alaska, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, the Radius Ensemble, the Ludovico Ensemble, and the Callithumpian consort. The Longy School of Music commissioned her to compose Quartet for BSO English horn soloist Robert Sheena to be played at the Inauguration of Karen Zorn, their new president. Marti’s music has been performed all over the world by ensembles, which include the San Francisco Symphony, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt, the Atlantic Brass Quintet, and Ensemble Modern.

https://www.martiepstein.com

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About the Podcast

Composer Chats
Composer Chat is a podcast where we talk a little bit about music, a little bit about life, and a whole lot about whatever we feel like at the moment! Each episode I am joined by a special guest composer and we will chat about their pathway towards success in their musical career!

About your host

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Jason Nitsch

Jason Nitsch’s music is equally at home on the concert stage, in outdoor venues, and streaming online, reaching the broadest audience of musicians, performers, and music enthusiasts possible. As a composer dedicated to the exploration of new ideas, his music has evolved over a 25-year career to incorporate more and more non-traditional elements, such as effect tracks, sound drops, and enveloping electroacoustic works combining live and pre-recorded elements. Much of his work is rooted in a large ensemble context; his wind ensemble works have received thousands of performances throughout the US including at Midwest, State Music Conferences including Texas, Colorado, and Kentucky Music Educators Associations, Colleges and Universities like Baylor University, the University of North Texas, and Syracuse University, and at other regional music festivals (ITEA).

In recent years Jason has focused on more intimate chamber musical settings, including collaborations with solo musicians such as trumpeter Kate Amrine , Cellist Carolyn Regula (The Cello Doll) and vocalist Michaela Catapano, as well as chamber groups across the US (Chicago Brass Choir), while continuing expand his sizable catalog of works for larger instrumental forces.

Jason is well known for his work as an educator, dedicated to providing young promising musicians with the foundational experiences on which a lifetime of music-making can be built, and is pursuing research into the ways that music students process their experiences as learners and performers.

Combining his long career in music with a deep love of science fiction and a natural talent for storytelling, Jason recently launched his first podcast, “Beyond the Belt: Adventures from the Outer Rim.” “Beyond the Belt” is a collection of 8 original dramatic science fiction episodes for which he served as writer, producer, and composer. It tells the story of a scientific research experiment gone horribly wrong. With Zombies (of course!).

Jason has released three digital albums in recent years, including the Season One Soundtrack from the Beyond the Belt podcast, “1000 Steps to Nowhere", a collection of chamber music compositions, and most recently “The Dead Teach the Living,” featuring nine vocal collaborations ranging from solo works to Orchestral compositions.

Jason is a lover of dogs, video games, and all things Star Wars (yes, even the prequels). He is also a husband, father of two budding musicians, and a patron of art forms that stretch traditional boundaries.

He currently lives in Waxhachie, TX with his family. He can occasionally be sighted lurking at select music conferences.