Episode 56

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Published on:

25th Feb 2025

2.6 - Lauren Spavelko

From the serious to the lighthearted, Spavelko's work inspires deeper connections with one another and ourselves. In equal measure, listeners can find play, curiosity, joy, sensitivity, and empathy.

Her works have been performed across the United States, as well as in Italy, Singapore, and Canada.

She has been commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Central Ohio Symphony, the Johnstone Fund for New Music, and numerous artists & performing ensembles. She arranged Orphée+ with Opera Columbus.

Spavelko has won multiple awards, including the 2017 Gian Carlo Menotti Young Composers Prize in Spoleto, Italy (Baby Book) and the Ruth Anderson Commission Prize from IAWM (Black Box 2.0). 

She has been a finalist for the NATS Art Song Composition Award (Baby Book) and for the American Prize in Vocal Chamber Music (Baby Book and From Edna, With Love) and Orchestral Music. (Kéyah)

In addition to composing, Spavelko is a gifted educator. 

She operates Musical Life, where she offers lessons in voice, piano, violin, & composition. She is a part-time professor at Otterbein University, where she teaches theory & piano skills for musical theater.

She also presents as a guest composer in K-12 classrooms, designs youth composition workshops, composes for youth ensembles, and delivers lectures on solo entrepreneurship for college students.

Lauren Spavelko performs as a vocalist, violinist, and pianist in both classical and commercial productions. She enjoys collaborating with artists and organizations in Columbus and the greater region. She has performed with opera workshops, professional choirs, chambers orchestras, and as a soloist.

(Learn more and see her work on her performance page.)​

From 2012-2014, Lauren toured with internationally-renowned artist Tajci and manager/producer Matthew Cameron, performing in 100+ concerts as a violinist and vocalist, and learning about concert production, sales, and logistics.

She is a co-coordinator of the Institute for Composer Diversity's chamber music database and a board member of Converging Arts Columbus and the Central Ohio Hot Jazz Society.

Spavelko is a graduate of the University of Louisville (M.M. Composition) and Ohio Wesleyan University (B.M. Music Education). She has studied composition with Steve Rouse, Clint Needham, and Jason Bahr. 

She values a balanced life rich in creative work, friendship, self-exploration, and play, and she desires the same for other artists. 

You can hear her laughing through Columbus while swing dancing, singing and fiddling, practicing yoga, painting, and making a joyful raucous with her circle

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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.