John M. Kennedy

Composer-Bassist-Educator Music “coming out of contemporary music and the Jazz tradition from multiple eras”, composer James Newton
“Creating the spark in others that music created in me. ”
explore the Music Mnemonic Meditations, Book 1 B.T. (2020) for solo trumpet Chaconne-Part 1 (2019) for mixed sextet
Matins (2020) for piano solo
Lamentations: Hayasdan (rev. 2013) for alto saxophone and piano

RECORDINGS As Composer EQUINOX (for EPK click here) Soundset Recordings As Bassist "A Chaos of Light and Motion" Music of Jack Van Zandt w/ soprano Stacey Fraser Neuma Records Release: March 21, 2025 COMMISSIONS Collaboration with NASA/JPL and the Mars, PA Robotics Program.Premiere: June 7, 2025 Set of double bass duets for David Heyes and Recital Music Ltd., UK December 2025 UPCOMING PERFORMANCES "From the Ground Up" Symphony of the Verdugos Paul Sherman, conductor June 1, 2025, Glendale, CA "Matins à deux" Satik Andriassian, guitar, Jaqueline Suzuki, violin Edendale Library, Echo Park May 3, 2025 Recognitions 2024 ASCAP Plus Award 2021 President's Distinguished Professor California State University, Los Angeles 2017 Fulbright Scholar, The University of Malta
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Premiere of "Mnemonic Meditations, Book 1, II. B.T." by James Ford III, solo trumpet
Featured Work

Mnemonic Meditations Book 1, II. B.T.

This work, dedicated to the memory of Breonna Taylor is from the first set in a series of meditations, memorializing African Americans killed at the hands of police and those acting in the name of the police. These meditations came to the composer in early June 2020 as the United States erupted in civil unrest at the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the midst of a global pandemic, Americans took to the streets to express their outrage. These pieces are an expression of the composer’s outrage, and frustration that the world health crisis kept him from active participation in the unrest.
Each of the four meditations have an inscription of the pitches applied to the name of each person(s) memorialized, and in some cases have a brief comment clarifying notational practice and interpretation. The notation is in a rather mannerist style where the accidentals are notated to reflect the pitch mnemonics. In some cases, this creates intervallic spellings counter to notational best practices. Click on the score for a performance by James Ford III
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