Episode 12

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Published on:

23rd Jan 2024

1.12 - Robbie Teehan

Join Jason as he welcomes composer Robbie Teehan to the podcast!

www.robbieteehan.com

Robbie (Rob) Teehan is a JUNO-award nominated Canadian composer, known for his nuanced and melodic scores to film, TV, and video games, and broad musical experience. He scored the critically-acclaimed Canadian film SCARBOROUGH, hailed by NOW Magazine as “A New Canadian Cinema”, and winner of 8 Canadian Screen Awards including “Best Motion Picture”; BELOW THE BELT, which recently premiered in New York City with Executive Producer Hillary Rodham Clinton in attendance; and BOTTLE CONDITIONED directed by Academy Award nominee Jerry Franck. 

Robbie’s scoring credits include additional music on three seasons of hit TV series ELEMENTARY and two seasons of JESSICA JONES alongside his mentor, 4-time Emmy Award-winning composer Sean Callery (24, HOMELAND, BONES, THE MEDIUM, HALO, etc.), with whom he apprenticed for five years in Los Angeles.  Robbie created a heartfelt orchestral score for the animated short LOVE LETTERS FROM EVEREST, which received two Canadian Screen Award nominations, and a Ukrainian-folk inspired score for the feature documentary THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL, lauded by the Chicago Tribune as “provocative, powerful, poignant, and frankly, unforgettable” and award-winner at nine film festivals including the Los Angeles Film Festival. 

Classically-trained, Robbie has composed and arranged for artists and ensembles across North America including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Toronto, and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.  His orchestral composition, “Dreams of Flying,” was hailed as “fresh and tuneful” by MacLean’s Magazine and nominated for a JUNO award for “Classical Composition of the Year.”  Robbie has performed thousands of shows around the world with a diverse array of musical projects, and his work as a composer, arranger, band member, session musician, and record producer has earned him four JUNO and eight Canadian Folk Music Award nominations.  He is currently active with his indie folk singer-songwriter project, Gentle Sparrow, releasing two EPs on streaming platforms and performing throughout his home province of Ontario, Canada.

Robbie is also the founder and CEO of The Pro Composer, a boutique career coaching firm and online community serving and supporting thousands of professional media composers around the world.

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About the Podcast

Composer Chats
Composer Chat is a podcast where we talk a little bit about music, a little bit about life, and a whole lot about whatever we feel like at the moment! Each episode I am joined by a special guest composer and we will chat about their pathway towards success in their musical career!

About your host

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Jason Nitsch

Jason Nitsch’s music is equally at home on the concert stage, in outdoor venues, and streaming online, reaching the broadest audience of musicians, performers, and music enthusiasts possible. As a composer dedicated to the exploration of new ideas, his music has evolved over a 25-year career to incorporate more and more non-traditional elements, such as effect tracks, sound drops, and enveloping electroacoustic works combining live and pre-recorded elements. Much of his work is rooted in a large ensemble context; his wind ensemble works have received thousands of performances throughout the US including at Midwest, State Music Conferences including Texas, Colorado, and Kentucky Music Educators Associations, Colleges and Universities like Baylor University, the University of North Texas, and Syracuse University, and at other regional music festivals (ITEA).

In recent years Jason has focused on more intimate chamber musical settings, including collaborations with solo musicians such as trumpeter Kate Amrine , Cellist Carolyn Regula (The Cello Doll) and vocalist Michaela Catapano, as well as chamber groups across the US (Chicago Brass Choir), while continuing expand his sizable catalog of works for larger instrumental forces.

Jason is well known for his work as an educator, dedicated to providing young promising musicians with the foundational experiences on which a lifetime of music-making can be built, and is pursuing research into the ways that music students process their experiences as learners and performers.

Combining his long career in music with a deep love of science fiction and a natural talent for storytelling, Jason recently launched his first podcast, “Beyond the Belt: Adventures from the Outer Rim.” “Beyond the Belt” is a collection of 8 original dramatic science fiction episodes for which he served as writer, producer, and composer. It tells the story of a scientific research experiment gone horribly wrong. With Zombies (of course!).

Jason has released three digital albums in recent years, including the Season One Soundtrack from the Beyond the Belt podcast, “1000 Steps to Nowhere", a collection of chamber music compositions, and most recently “The Dead Teach the Living,” featuring nine vocal collaborations ranging from solo works to Orchestral compositions.

Jason is a lover of dogs, video games, and all things Star Wars (yes, even the prequels). He is also a husband, father of two budding musicians, and a patron of art forms that stretch traditional boundaries.

He currently lives in Waxhachie, TX with his family. He can occasionally be sighted lurking at select music conferences.