Jenece & Music
Music is Medicine
I have known this intuitively since childhood. Contemporary research lends promising evidence of the timeless truth of the efficacy of this medicine. The ancient Daoist healers reportedly sang over their patients as medicine. The human voice is perhaps the oldest healing tool. The magnificently diverse cultures of the world all have singing traditions. Indeed, the act of singing can be one of the most powerful medicines I know -- with, for example, the capacity to move stuck energy/qi, lift the spirit, keep the cardiovascular system healthy, strengthen the immune system, spark the imagination and storytelling, inspire connection, empower memory, build self-confidence, and to process trauma. The vital beauty of communal/choral singing is felt in the personal and the collective experience of making music in our bodies -- for it is also sharing stories: bringing our own stories, healing our own named and unnamed wounds, and delighting in the contract we make with one another to create and honour the space and time and art of this boundless collective medicine. Singing together can be both joyful and challenging. Singing together can change the world.
The organic merging of music and medicine in my own life is an embodied reunion of these practices that have been far too fractured from one another in most contemporary societies. I earned the Ph.D in Music Composition from the State University of New York at Buffalo, Master of Music degrees in both Music Composition and Vocal Performance from the University of Akron (Ohio), and the Bachelor of Arts in Ethnomusicology and Music Composition from Bowling Green State University (Ohio). I am also a Reiki Master, Vocal Yoga teacher, and practitioner of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. And I love to sing -- privately, publicly, solo, and in community. I have sung in countless choirs and ensembles ranging from community groups, student ensembles, and professional small and large ensembles.
In my acupuncture practice I strive that every treatment be a composition -- choosing and using acupuncture points that communicate with one another, that "sing" and "harmonize" together. And in my music practice I strive that every performance be medicine -- holistic medicine and holistic music.
Selected Musical Compositions
Solo and Chamber Works
by Jenece Gerber
soundtrack for the film JENNY
commissioned by the Cape Breton Film Project, 2020
iKram for cello and percussion duo
commissioned and premiered by the Holland/Weissman Duo, 2013
Elemental: Sound & Movement Meditation
graphic score for 4 performers, with audience movement meditation
premiered at the Center for Art & Spirit, Asheville NC
nai-u keshto wordless chamber opera for two singers, suling, clarinet, baritone saxophone, crystal glasses, percussion, cello, storyteller
and dancer - premiered by Buffalo area musicians at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, 2010
text by the composer
Haiku for soprano duet
premiered by the Babel experimental vocal ensemble, Buffalo, 2007
text by the composer
judge a moth by the beauty of its candle for string quartet
premiere by the Season Quartet – Sombor, Serbia, 2007
by chance for semi-improvised flute, singing bowls, and voice
premiere by Marginal Buzz Machine at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
Buffalo Infringement Festival, 2007
Equi— experimental work for indeterminate ensemble
duration indeterminate
premiere by the Barton Workshop, 2007
3 Sonnets for soprano and cello
premiere by Tony Arnold, soprano and Jonathan Golove, cello, 2006
text by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Ritual for flute, viola and piano
premiere by Sabatino Scirri, flute, Laura Casey, viola and Alison d’Amato, piano, 2006
on cloud formation for trombone and piano
premiere by Trevor Bjørklund, trombone and Alison d’Amato, piano, 2006
Three Dream Songs for flute, violin, cello, percussion, piano, and soprano
premiere by itch contemporary ensemble and Dana Schnitzer, soprano
Brevard Music Festival, 2005, text by the composer
String Quartet no. 1: Ohio Summers
premiere by La Catrina String Quartet, 2005
To Once Again Dream, To Once Again Dance for flute and harp
premiere by Michael Leese, flute and Jocelyn Chang, harp, 2005
(original 1995, revised 2005)
Oregon Sketches for solo piano
premiere by James Cross, 2005
Woodwind Quartet no. 1: The Birds
premiere by members of the University of Akron Woodwind Quintet, 2005
A Blessing for organ
premiere by Georgia Peeples, 2005
To the Muses for mezzo soprano, flute and percussion quartet
premiere by the Summit New Music Ensemble, 2004
text by William Blake
Sage-Scented Air for violin and marimba
premiere by Jeffrey Leigh, violin and Bill Sallak, marimba, 2004
Sleeping Man for mezzo soprano and violin
premiere by Jenece Gerber and Jeffrey Leigh, 2003
text by the composer
Large Ensemble Works
Holy Spirit for a cappella choir
commissioned by Brian Hilton
text by Hildegard of Bingen (in translation)
I Lift Up My Eyes for SATB choir and organ
commissioned and premiered by the Westminster Presbyterian Choir, 2016
Biblical text
The Lord’s Prayer for a cappella choir
commissioned and premiered by the Westminster Presbyterian Choir, 2016
liturgical text
Be Still for a cappella choir
commissioned and premiered by the Westminster Presbyterian Choir, 2016
Biblical text
God Be in My Head for a cappella choir
commissioned and premiered by the Westminster Presbyterian Choir, 2016
text from the Sarum Primer
Set Me as a Seal Upon Your Heart for a cappella choir
commissioned by the parents of Heidi Fors and Douglas Kohler on the occasion of their wedding
premiered by the Clarence High School Chorale, 2016
text: composer’s poetic interpretation of Biblical text
je me délace for a cappella choir and soprano-alto duet
premiere by the New York Virtuoso Singers, 2007; reprogrammed 2011 and 2012
text by the composer and Louise Labé
Multiplicities for orchestra
unperformed (read by the Brevard Festival Orchestra)
To the Evening Star for soprano and chamber orchestra
public reading by Robyn Lanier, soprano and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, 2004
text by William Blake
The Good Woman of Setzuan complete musical score for the Bertolt Brecht play (1995)
premiere and 2-week run by the Bowling Green State University Theatre Department
text by Bertolt Brecht (in translation)