Updates
“ For me, the treat was in the music. With a three piece pit orchestra, Justin M. Brauer on the piano ... [brings] the Guaralidi Trio to life. ”
“ At all times, the nine-piece orchestra conducted by Justin M. Brauer is both lively and smooth. It is notably just right for volume and is a model of accompaniment. ”
“ Conductor Justin M. Brauer ably leads the orchestra in its energetic performances... ”
“ Such an awesome show - Beautiful voice, creative songlist, amazing pianist, and a really beautiful spirit... ”
My contribution to this year’s Giving Tuesday campaign for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Illinois Theatre’s production of Rent was featured in two interviews with Illinois Public Media and Smile Politely.
Making Illinois is a three-part video series documenting my team’s journey across campus to meet makers and learn more about their shops and the way that they work.
For this year’s installment of The Great Cover Up, Whiskey Shadows performed as Flogging Molly. You can see our 20-minute set starting at the 1:00 mark.
The Recognizing Generations of Illinois Impact video to which I contributed the music, has received Silver medals in the CASE Circle of Excellence and Case District V awards!
I’m currently finishing up a set of full orchestral accompaniment tracks for a California production of Snoopy the Musical. Check out a preview of four of the tracks!
I recently completed a suite of music for the University of Illinois School of Music’s new podcast “Sonorities.”
Arrangement of the Illinois State Song for an advertisement for Giving Tuesday at the University of Illinois
After being a loyal user of CME’s XKey keyboard for years and seeing the success they’ve had with their wireless XKEY Air, I was excited to back their crowdfunding campaign for the WIDI Master, a wireless MIDI solution. The two units I ordered came in the mail yesterday, and I was able to do some brief testing.
Here’s my take on Zach Braff’s ode to Donald Faison, as heard on the Fake Doctors, Real Friends podcast.
Whiskey Shadows returned to The Great Cover Up last month (now in its 29th year!) as Bob Seger- check out the video!
In preparation for self-tapes, video submissions, and Skype auditions being the norm for a little bit, I'm offering accompaniment tracks at a deep discount, as well as 32-bar cuts (something I don't normally offer). This is also a great option for teachers who are transitioning performance-based courses online and need accompaniment to send to their performers/ensembles.
I recently worked with Joriah Kwame to publish a new engraving of his song “Little Miss Perfect”, originally from Tapes: A Song Cycle and one of the 2019 Write Out Loud winners.
A fellow music director asked on facebook today if anyone had the onstage guitar part tabbed out for “Unworthy Of Your Love” from Assassins, either tuned down a half step and played in C, or capoed 2 frets and played in A. When I music directed it a few years ago, my guitar player helped write out the part tuned down a half step, so I tracked down the tab we used, and figured I’d post it here in case others find it useful.
This past month, I’ve been working on recording rehearsal and performance tracks for Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along at Miami Palmetto Senior High School (in Florida!)
You can now get in touch with me via the Genius Hub at MusicalWriters.com, a new resource for pairing musical theatre creatives with freelancers of all kinds!
Kvn and I played Krannert Center’s “Krannert Uncorked'“ series last week, and revisited some old favorites we’ve done over the past couple of years, including Autumn Leaves.
Hannah and I got married on Saturday, and our ceremony included this arrangement I did of When I Fall In Love, based on Sam Cooke’s arrangement.
Continuing my month of Muppets, Whiskey Shadows played at the 28th Annual Great Cover Up in Champaign last weekend.
A few years ago, my dad mentioned in passing that he wanted to learn to play Can’t Get Along Without You, from the 1994 album “Kermit Unpigged”
This Saturday, I’ll be playing in Champaign with Tetralogy, a new group put together by singer Kvn Tajzea. Get to know the band! See below also for some clips from the last time Kvn, Aaron, and I played together.
In the past year, I started a new day job in the Office of Advancement at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I did the music for the campaign progress video we released today.
It's been almost a year since I last posted an update- whoops! Here's what's happened in that time:
I was recently featured in an artist spotlight by AZ Studio Workstations, the makers of my studio desk.