Brent Heisinger

Biography

San Francisco Bay Area composer, Brent
Heisinger (1937), was born and raised in Stockton,
California,
began piano study at five and trombone lessons at
seven. He
and his physician brother Dale received musical
training from
their father, an exceptional band director, and both
were highly
influenced by their mother, a patron of literary and
musical
arts. At the age of 16, he
studied piano at the Music Conservatory of College of
the Pacific where
his father was Director of Bands. After his schooling
in the
Stockton public schools where he played trombone in
bands and
orchestras, he
attended Stockton Junior College (now San Joaquin
Delta College) and
transferred to San
José State University where he received his Bachelor
of Arts and Master of Arts degrees. As an
undergraduate,
he continued his piano and trombone studies, formed a
quartet
to play for dances, and arranged for the marching
band. He
began serious composition studies with Frank Erickson
and Stanley
Hollingsworth during his graduate years there.

After teaching music in elementary and secondary schools for four
years, he
completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Stanford University
where he
studied composition with Leland Smith and Humphrey Searle. He
joined the
music faculty at San José State University and during his tenure
conducted
choral and wind ensembles, taught trombone, piano, conducting and
composition,
and served as Theory/Musicianship Area Coordinator. Heisinger also was
active
as a clinician, speaker, and consultant for the Contemporary Music
Project
(funded by the Ford Foundation and the Music Educators National
Conference),
which promoted the idea of comprehensive musicianship; he authored
several
articles and three textbooks on the topic. Among his most significant
writings
are the articles "American Minimalism in the 80s" published in The
Journal of American Music and "Compositional Devices in Steve
Reich's
Octet" which appeared in Ex Tempore.

While at San José State University, he was presented the School of
Humanities
and Arts Certificate of Distinction, selected as a Teacher Scholar,
named Outstanding
San José State University Music Alumnus, nominated for the Carnegie
Foundation United States Outstanding Professor Award, and awarded the
distinguished
President's Scholar Award.

Influenced by the likes of Stravinsky, Bartók, Gershwin, Lou Harrison,
Steve Reich, and great jazz performers, Heisinger says about his
music, "My
works bounce from one palette to another. I have no desire to own a
style." This
is evidenced in the diversity of his music much of which has been
published
and performed throughout the world. Nubes
Aztecas (Invocación y
Canto) commissioned by The Choral Project
of San José, received
performances in Mexico and Costa Rica, Essay for Band and March for Timpani
and Brass are popular in western Europe, Eklektikos- In
Five
Pieces, has seen performances throughout the U.S., and by French
pianist
Voya Toncitch in Israel, Finland, Taiwan, Brazil, Singapore, Manila,
and India.
Also, A Walk Within Winter (composed for pianist Donna
Stoering) has
been heard in Russia, Finland, Switzerland, Poland, England, Brazil,
and Germany.
Heisinger's Concerto No.2 for Piano and
Wind Ensemble has received
two first prize awards and 2nd prize at the 5th International
Composition Competition
("Coups de Vent") in Le Havre, France. Both the United States Air
Force and Navy Bands have performed his symphonic band music. In a new
direction
involving considerable improvisation, Ekta ("oneness"),
commissioned by the San
José Chamber Orchestra and scored for solo piano,
jazz rhythm section, tabla, string orchestra with two percussionists,
was premiered
in 2005. The unusual integration of an Indian raga and tals, American
jazz
in a "classical" setting, was enthusiastically received. Soulscape,
his most recent work, (2010) was
commissioned and premiered by The Ohlone Wind Orchestra of California.

As Emeritus Professor of Music, Brent Heisinger is active composing
and supporting
the San José State University School of Music and Dance and oversees
his own HBH Publishing. He and his wife Barbara reside in San José and
enjoy the families of their three sons Dean, Doug, and Kurt.