Email Rick via this form.
Phone him at (814) 867-9935.
Please inquire about:
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State College, PA
(814) 867-9935
Rick Hirsch is a nationally-known composer, arranger and jazz educator living in State College, PA. Check out his music, book a live jazz band in Central Pennsylvania.
One of the 'firsts' for me this year was the opportunity to compose an original piece for string orchestra. This was commissioned by the wonderful educator Matt Shaffer for his orchestras at Park Forest and Mount Nittany middle schools, where he's the strings teacher.
Here's the (most of) the first performance of it by the Mount Nittany group.
. be a fun album of modern big band jazz.
. feature a 20-piece, hand-picked band.
. be recorded in the world-class Red Rock recording studio, by top-flight engineers.
. present 9 originals and arrangements by yours truly.
. get backer-only behind-the-scenes access to videos from the recording session, interviews with the musicians, and unreleased bonus tracks from previous studio sessions.
. get the album before it is released.
. choose from a wonderful array of rewards and gifts.
. be a part of our grass-roots arts council!
The Cheverus HS Jazz Combo from Portland, ME recorded my tune Hit It for a local radio commercial.
Not only do they sound great on it — dig the guitar player — but, they dropped the tempo by about 25%, making the pocket much deeper. I'm totally into it.
The video is embedded in FaceBook, but I don't believe you have to be logged in to view it.
Many thanks to these fine musicians—and their ultra-hip teacher, Chris Humphrey!
My 2015 composition Metroliner just received honorable mention in the 2016 Ithaca College Jazz Ensemble Composition Contest.
About this contest
The winning composition this year is For the Rise of a New Day by Cassio Vianna of Greeley, CO.
The IC Jazz Ensemble will perform the winning and honorable mention pieces in a concert March 8. They will feature guest soloist Tony Kadleck, a NYC-based trumpeter who has performing and recording credentials out the wazoo: Maria Schneider, Buddy Rich, New York Pops, etc...
» Ithaca College's FULL PRESS RELEASE
Incidentally, my composition Mirage was the winning composition in 2015's contest.
About Metroliner
I wrote Metroliner last spring for Chris Vadala's excellent University of Maryland Jazz Ensemble. It is a musical portrait of a high-speed train in it's hey-day.
If you're interested, here are the score and an audio recording. This bootleg was made on our monthly reading-band gig, so it is not without mistakes. After a few more play-throughs the band is going to sound dyn-o-mite on it.
I just received this recording from Keith Young, saxophone professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. It's his saxophone studio ensemble performing my sax choir piece Sparkle, live in concert on the bi-centennial of Adolphe Sax's birthday.
It always tickles me to hear recordings of other folks performing music I've written, no matter the experience level of the musicians. But, there is a certain thrill when the person playing the music is one of the leading musicians in the world.
Here's a recording I just received of progressive alto saxophonist RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA performing my jazz ensemble composition Mirage. When I submitted this piece to the Ithaca College Jazz Ensemble Composition contest, I knew that Rudresh would be performing the winning piece(s). And, I was familiar with Rudresh's musical milieu, which includes vocabulary from Indian and other 'exotic' world musics. I had a strong hunch that, should Mirage happen to be selected, Rudresh would soar, taking the music to places beyond my imagination. Which he did. And then some.
Here he is in performance with Professor Mike Titlebaum's Ithaca College Jazz Ensemble.
»» You can view the score and more info on this piece HERE.
Video overview:
0:00 Prof. Titlebaum discusses evaluation process for selecting Mirage as contest winner.
1:00 Music begins
2:00 Rudresh begins interpreting melody
3:30 Pace picks up
5:20 IC student trombone solo (nicely done!)
7:25 Rudresh begins his (fairly mind-blowing) improvisation
I'm attending the Midwest Clinic for the first time since the late 1990's. I have many fond memories of attending several times during my years living in IL and WI.
I can't wait to catch up with old friends and make some new ones.
And I'm looking forward to presenting my session Get Everyone Improvising—and Your Rhythm Section Grooving—in 10 Minutes a Day.
It should be fun!
My 5'2" (including poofed-up hair) Jewish grandmother loved to say that variety is the spice of life. And, while I do appreciate a good routine, I'm always up for new opportunities and challenges. Speaking of which, I've got a couple new experiences on tap right now:
Commission #1
Compose a grade 1/2 concert band piece for the Kiski Area Upper Elementary band. Yes, that's grade .5. This is going to be a fun-to-play piece written for 6th graders with a year of music instruction under their belt. I'm SO excited to figure out how to do this. And, to top it all off, it will be premiered at the 2016 PMEA convention in Hershey. Very cool on all fronts.
Commission #2
Compose a piece for the middle school string program in the State College Area School district. We're still ironing out the learning objectives, but I think we're going for something jazzy that may even include improvisational elements. I'm excited to tackle this one, too, especially because I'll have several opportunities to work directly with the students in the orchestra.
Commission #3
Orchestrate a delightfully creative 13-minute medley of even songs for the annual Save-the-Music Foundation fundraising concert in the Central Bucks school district. Middle school choir teacher Jim Glaser has conceived another brilliant arrangement — and it is my job to transcribe and notate everything for this show-style orchestra made of up students, music teachers, and local pros. This will be my third year on this assignment, and it's ALWAYS a good time.
UPDATE: NOVEMBER 18
Commission #4
Compose an original piece for the Huntingdon (PA) Area High School Jazz Band. They have a lovely music program with great kids — this should be a fun one!
Oh, how I love when the stars align and make it feasible to ride my bike to a gig. I think these are my main criteria:
Here's my rig from a park concert I played yesterday:
Set-up: Burley 2-child bicycle trailer. 1998 vintage, about the same age as my oldest daughter, in fact.
Contents: tenor saxophone, music stand (with folding legs), backpack with miscellaneous accessories, tote bag with four fat 3-ring binders of music.
You can't really see it in this photo, but this trailer attaches (easily) to the back of my bike and is towed behind.
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Do you ever bike to gigs or rehearsals with your instruments? What's your set-up?
Live jazz returns to Zola for the first time since 2014.
We hope you can join us and make a good showing for live jazz support to the good folks at the new Zola.
Thursday, Aug 27 • 8-10 pm • no cover
