Jay Krause is a composer and multi-instrumentalist currently living in Chicago, IL. As an experienced music professional, Jay has dedicated well over a decade of his life to furthering his deep passion for music and strengthening his expertise within both academic and professional environments. In pursuit of these objectives, Jay earned degrees at the Berklee College of Music in Music Production & Engineering and Acoustics & Electronics. During this time he collaborated with seasoned musicians, such as Paula Cole, David Fiuczynski, and Randy Roos, and procured specialization in music production by training with chart-topping producers, such as Susan Rogers (Prince’s Purple Rain), Leanne Ungar (Leonard Cohen), and Prince Charles Alexander (Puff Daddy). Upon graduation, Jay immediately earned the position of Assistant General Manager for Troika Entertainment, overseeing the production and performances of multimillion dollar budget Broadway musicals, such as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, George Gershwin’s An American in Paris, and Gloria Estefan’s On Your Feet.

 

In an effort to refocus his professional undertakings towards composition, Jay completed a Master of Arts degree with a concentration in Music Theory at The University of Chicago. Throughout his graduate years, Jay proactively created opportunities that would further his knowledge and pursued independent projects informed by his research interests, which are motivated by questions of post-tonal analysis, notational inadequacies in modern music, and popular reception of experimental music. The culmination of his graduate scholarship is most manifest in his Master’s thesis, “Déserts – The Electronic Interpolations,” in which he engages with the analytical and notational problems of electronic music via a case study of Edgard Varèse’s Déserts. In this project, Jay proposes a comprehensive analysis of Varèse’s methods of production as the most constructive means of dissecting the multi-timbral sonic and rhythmic complexities that define the movements of early electronic music.

 

In his capacity as a career composer, Jay has scored music for a number of enterprises, such as indie films, commercials, and mobile games, focusing on finding creative ways to blend traditional acoustic instruments with contemporary electronic timbres. In an effort to support local and independent artists, Jay began scoring documentaries and short films such as Pajama Bandits, Hamburger River, and Fish Food. In 2016, Jay also orchestrated the complete score for the award-winning feature documentary, Naija Beta, directed by Arthur Musah. Jay has proven himself a skilled and prolific composer, having written hundreds of pieces and put out several independent albums, for which he fulfilled the roles of sole writer, performer, engineer, mixer and producer. His self-produced music has been featured alongside progressive rock musicians such as Fred Frith (Henry Cow) and artist Cal Schenkel (Frank Zappa). Recently, Jay has joined Raging Cloud Studios as a full-time contracted composer where he works diligently to create music for multiple artistic purposes and platforms.

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