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Jay Anthony Gach’s instrumental concert music has been critically acclaimed as "witty, virtuosic and accessible"1, "so exuberant [and] so characterful"2, "a natural crowd pleaser"3, "vibrant textures"4, "multi-layered, whirling and propulsive"5. Summarized by the composer Lukas Foss during his tenure as conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, "his writing for orchestra is brilliant beyond words". Mr. Gach's compositions for the voice have been aptly characterized with the simple phrase, "such beautiful music"6. The composer Hugo Weisgall wrote of him, "a composer... of extraordinary technical command and intellectual grasp of what music is all about".
Mr. Gach's music has been performed, recorded and broadcast internationally by ensembles including the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic/ Vladimir Lande; Millennium Symphony Orch./Robert Ian Winstin, St. Paul Chamber Orch./Enrique Diemecke, Brooklyn Philharmonic/Lukas Foss, American Composers Orchestra/Paul Dunkel, National Italian Youth Orchestra/Vinko Globokar, City of London Sinfonia, Haydn Chamber Orchestra of London, the Britten Sinfonia Soloists, Vox Juventus Poland, the Gregg Smith Singers, New York Treble Singers and by solo artists including British pianist Ronan Magill, American clarinettist Richard Stoltzman, Canadian cellist Soo Bae and the soprano and tenor duo Grace Hart & Enzo Citarelli.
He has received commissions and awards in over thirty national and international competitions including the American Lyric Theatre Poe Opera Project, Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, Astral Foundation (Pew-Bandy) of New York and Philadelphia, Frederick P. Rose Prize, Valentino Bucchi Concorsi Internazionale, Third British Contemporary Piano Music Competition, Delta Omicron Composition Prize, Dr. J. Howland Auchincloss Society for New Music Composition Prize, New York Foundation for the Arts 1990, MacDowell Colony, Tanglewood Music Centre (Bruno Maderna Fellowship), National Endowment for the Arts, et al. Between 1981 and 1999 he resided and worked in European capitals returning to New York in 2000.
Mr. Gach has written and conducted many arrangements and original scores for the educational and commercial media, including: The Selfish Giant, a children’s musical; Legends from Bodmin Moor, a film; British Rail “Mind the Doors”, an advertisement campaign; and The Hurlers, an animation film. His biography has appeared in Marquis ‘Who’s Who in America’ since 2006. Mr Gach currently serves as Secretary of the Long Island Composers Alliance.
International and National Fellowships: Dartington, England International Summer School 1991. American Academy in Rome, Italy Music Composition Fellowship 1984-5. Research Assistantship University Tubingen, Germany 1980-1. Wellesley, New Hampshire, Johnson & Bennington Colleges Composers Conferences 2001/1989/82/81.
Selected Commissions, Grants, Prizes: Suona Sacra, Italy 2015; Piccola Orchestra ‘900/Scuola Musica ed Arte 2011 (AVANTI) Italy 2012 , American Lyric Theatre's Edgar Allan Poe Opera Project Commissions (...Of the Flesh) USA 2011. American Chamber Ensemble (The Ingenue & the Matinee Idol) 2009. New York Treble Singers (ELI, ELI) 2008. Concert Artists Guild/ Long Island Composers Alliance (Toccare Cielo) USA 2008. American Lyric Theatre Composer Librettist Development Program (Nora at the Altar Rail) USA 2008. Children's Aid Society Chorus (My Letter to the World), USA 2005. Saxtet Publications Composition Competition, (Trains, Steam Whistles and....) UK 2004. Peter B. Allen Sacred Hymn Arrangement Competition USA 2004. XI International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music Prague, Czech Rep. 2003. Upbeat-Hvar International Summer School 2003, Croatia. Kathryn Thomas International Flute Composition Competition (Tre Ecloghe) 2000, UK. SPNM/Huddersfield Festival 1998, UK. Haydn Chamber Orchestra of London (Selfish Giant) 1997, UK. Oberlin College Chorale 1995 (Hashir Hashem Luchem), USA. Islington (London) International Festival 1995, UK. Third British Contemporary Piano Competition 1994, UK. American Composers Orchestra 1988, USA. Frederick P. Rose Orchestral Prize 1988 USA. St. Paul Chamber Orch. American Composers Competition 1985 USA. ASCAP Standard Awards 1988-2012, USA.
Mr. Gach's music has been performed, recorded and broadcast internationally by ensembles including the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic/ Vladimir Lande; Millennium Symphony Orch./Robert Ian Winstin, St. Paul Chamber Orch./Enrique Diemecke, Brooklyn Philharmonic/Lukas Foss, American Composers Orchestra/Paul Dunkel, National Italian Youth Orchestra/Vinko Globokar, City of London Sinfonia, Haydn Chamber Orchestra of London, the Britten Sinfonia Soloists, Vox Juventus Poland, the Gregg Smith Singers, New York Treble Singers and by solo artists including British pianist Ronan Magill, American clarinettist Richard Stoltzman, Canadian cellist Soo Bae and the soprano and tenor duo Grace Hart & Enzo Citarelli.
He has received commissions and awards in over thirty national and international competitions including the American Lyric Theatre Poe Opera Project, Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, Astral Foundation (Pew-Bandy) of New York and Philadelphia, Frederick P. Rose Prize, Valentino Bucchi Concorsi Internazionale, Third British Contemporary Piano Music Competition, Delta Omicron Composition Prize, Dr. J. Howland Auchincloss Society for New Music Composition Prize, New York Foundation for the Arts 1990, MacDowell Colony, Tanglewood Music Centre (Bruno Maderna Fellowship), National Endowment for the Arts, et al. Between 1981 and 1999 he resided and worked in European capitals returning to New York in 2000.
Mr. Gach has written and conducted many arrangements and original scores for the educational and commercial media, including: The Selfish Giant, a children’s musical; Legends from Bodmin Moor, a film; British Rail “Mind the Doors”, an advertisement campaign; and The Hurlers, an animation film. His biography has appeared in Marquis ‘Who’s Who in America’ since 2006. Mr Gach currently serves as Secretary of the Long Island Composers Alliance.
International and National Fellowships: Dartington, England International Summer School 1991. American Academy in Rome, Italy Music Composition Fellowship 1984-5. Research Assistantship University Tubingen, Germany 1980-1. Wellesley, New Hampshire, Johnson & Bennington Colleges Composers Conferences 2001/1989/82/81.
Selected Commissions, Grants, Prizes: Suona Sacra, Italy 2015; Piccola Orchestra ‘900/Scuola Musica ed Arte 2011 (AVANTI) Italy 2012 , American Lyric Theatre's Edgar Allan Poe Opera Project Commissions (...Of the Flesh) USA 2011. American Chamber Ensemble (The Ingenue & the Matinee Idol) 2009. New York Treble Singers (ELI, ELI) 2008. Concert Artists Guild/ Long Island Composers Alliance (Toccare Cielo) USA 2008. American Lyric Theatre Composer Librettist Development Program (Nora at the Altar Rail) USA 2008. Children's Aid Society Chorus (My Letter to the World), USA 2005. Saxtet Publications Composition Competition, (Trains, Steam Whistles and....) UK 2004. Peter B. Allen Sacred Hymn Arrangement Competition USA 2004. XI International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music Prague, Czech Rep. 2003. Upbeat-Hvar International Summer School 2003, Croatia. Kathryn Thomas International Flute Composition Competition (Tre Ecloghe) 2000, UK. SPNM/Huddersfield Festival 1998, UK. Haydn Chamber Orchestra of London (Selfish Giant) 1997, UK. Oberlin College Chorale 1995 (Hashir Hashem Luchem), USA. Islington (London) International Festival 1995, UK. Third British Contemporary Piano Competition 1994, UK. American Composers Orchestra 1988, USA. Frederick P. Rose Orchestral Prize 1988 USA. St. Paul Chamber Orch. American Composers Competition 1985 USA. ASCAP Standard Awards 1988-2012, USA.