Jerod Reetz

Biographie

Dr. Jerod Reetz's excitement and compassion for music is reflected in his performing and teaching. A recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison,  he currently maintains a private studio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

As a composer, countertenor (altist) and bass/baritone, harpist, and collaborative pianist/harpsichordist, Reetz collaborates with schools, religious organizations and more, offering his skills for special occasions, services and weddings, and is willing to travel to perform for events. 

Reetz is the founder and artistic director for Sacra Nova Cathedrale, Inc. (www.sacranovacathedrale.com). He was the 2016 Rupp Cooper Harp Scholarship recipient. Recent notable performances include singing and/or playing the harp at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist and Basilica of St. Josaphat in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Reetz received his D.M.A. in Composition with a minor in Music Theory from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied under Stephen Dembski and John Schaffer. He completed his M.F.A. in Composition at CalArts, where he studied under Anne LeBaron and Karen Tanaka, and his B.M. in Composition at Cardinal Stritch University, where he studied under Daniel Maske. He recently completed his IT - Computer Networking certificate and works for VCPI as a Senior Service Desk Technical Analyst. 

Reetz's compositional focus lies in writing for chamber orchestra, opera, dance, choir, chamber ensemble, and soloist. His interest in interdisciplinary collaborative projects has led him to work with dancers, fine artists, character animators, fashion designers, and more. He is the 2017 Peter Sheridan Low Flutes Opportunity Award recipient for composition and music education, awarded by the Madison Flute Club. In 2015, he was commissioned by president of World Dance Alliance-Americas, Jin-Wen Yu, dean of the Dance department at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, to write music for the finale piece, Play à Pose, in the department's faculty concert, BREATH. In 2014, he was commissioned by the Santa Clarita Master Chorale, and wrote a work titled, I Will Be There Tomorrow, for their summer music concert series. He received a Diversity Grant in 2013 from CalArts for his composition, Embrace.  In 2011, he was awarded the Bro. Rufino Zaragoza, OFM Music Composition Award by the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi in Milwaukee, WI, for his sacred works. 

 Reetz’s musicological and theoretical research extends to: musical temporality; music and movement; countertenor; pedal harp; "queering" music. He is a DAAD Research Grant recipient. He traveled to Germany in June of 2016 to interview countertenor scholars there - his resultant article, "Contemporary Perspectives on the Countertenor: Interviews with Kai Wessel, Corinna Herr, Arnold Jacobshagen, and Matthias Echternach," is published in the Journal of Singing. The article provides scholarship on the vocal mechanism, history and pedagogy of/for the voice type. He also received the College Music Society Award for Outstanding Paper at the Great Lakes Regional Conference 2016 for his paper, "Engaging Musical Text Settings with Queer Theory: Queering George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children and Apparition." 

     
  Jerod Reetz