Episode 54

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Published on:

11th Feb 2025

2.4 - Nathan Hervey

Nathan Hervey (b. Texas) is an American composer and educator.

Mr. Hervey grew up in Arlington, Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from UT Arlington and his Master of Music in trombone performance from University of North Texas. He currently serves as band director at Arlington High School and also teaches beginners at Bailey Junior High in Arlington. 

Mr. Hervey currently serves a band director at Arlington (Tx.) High School. In that role he conducts the jazz ensembles as well as the concert band and assists with the marching band. Other duties include teaching beginner musicians at Bailey Junior High. 

Composition has long been one of Mr. Hervey’s passions, and it has grown out of a desire to provide beautiful music for young musicians. His earliest compositions were quartets and piano pieces. He has also done a lot of transcriptions/arrangements for jazz bands that he has conducted over the years. Throughout his teaching career, he began getting ideas for music that he could write for his own ensembles. It started with arranging chorales, warm-ups, etc., and then moved into original music for them to perform. As time went on, his strong desire to write for young ensembles simply grew and students also encouraged me to keep writing.

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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.