I can remember being a composer at heart since my earliest memories. Growing up in a very musical environment (my mother was an opera singer, my father her voice teacher), I recall improvising at the piano and imagining fully scored soundtracks in my head even in the very beginning of my childhood. Upon discovering the sonatas of Beethoven at the age of twelve, I (rather suddenly) developed a love for the piano which quickly sparked my interest in composition. From there I immediately became immersed in the process of learning as much as I could about this incredible, mysterious, life-changing thing known as music... a process that becomes more and more of an all-consuming obsession, yet somehow leaves me feeling more humble and less knowledgeable with each passing year!
As a composer, my primary goal has always been to establish a voice that is unique and distinctly recognizable as my own. Throughout my compositional development (particularly over the last five years) I have tirelessly worked toward creating and refining my stylistic vision. Fortunately, my work has not been in vain, as I have found that the most consistent reaction to my music is related to the originality of my personal voice, especially my harmonic language.
If I were to describe my music, I would say that most of my works could be categorized as neo-romantic, with strong elements of both impressionism and expressionism. My works tend to utilize harmonic ambiguity and dissonance within a mostly tonal framework (similar perhaps to composers such as Prokofiev, Szymanowsky, Scriabin, Sorabji, Reger, etc.), complex and freely structured formal designs, elaborate rhythmic devices designed to create a continuously organic feeling of fluidity and motion, implementation of modern approaches such as set theory, non-standard instrumental techniques, etc., influences ranging from Baroque/Classical-era composers to jazz, metal, and other non-classical genres, and a dramatically fluctuating sense of emotionality, intended to depict the universal duality of life and human emotion.
My music is inspired by a large variety of topics, including philosophy, spirituality, synesthesia, consciousness expansion (transcendental meditation, hypnosis, the psychedelic experience, lucid dreaming, OBEs and other forms of mental exploration), surrealism, mental illness, and a variety of other subjects that I find interesting. Generally my approach to these topics is abstract, in the form of "absolute music," though I will usually always include background information pertaining to the deeper meaning and context of my pieces when I share them publicly.
My hobbies include chess, hiking, theatre, travel, reading, musing on topics vastly beyond my own understanding, teaching (in most social situations this is more of a reflex than anything), meditation/hypnotherapy, and surfing YouTube in search of new music. I also am interested in recording/audio production, which I majored in for two years and continue to study/practice as frequently as possibly. I appreciate and actively listen to practically every genre of music there is (I am constantly open to the discovery of unfamiliar styles), and love art in all of its forms.
I hope that you enjoy my music, and I always greatly appreciate any and all feedback I receive from listeners. I encourage all those interested in my work to visit my website (www.johncareycomposer.com), which contains a complete list of free recordings of my major works (in multiple genres), as well as a large variety of information about how to purchase or rent scores/parts and employ any of the several professional services I offer. I also would recommend checking out my YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/johncareycomposer), which contains videos of my pieces with the scores provided, as well as live performances I've given of my own music and the music of other composers.
Beethoven (my favorite composer and greatest influence to this day), Sorabji, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Berg, Ravel, Gershwin, Prokofiev, Mahler, Reger, Szymanowski, Scriabin, many others
My Compositional Styles
Neo-romanticism, neo-classicism, neo-impressionism, post-modernism, electronic, jazz, rock/metal, musical theatre, you name it!
Notation Software/Sequencers
Finale, Garritan Personal Orchestra, Logic Pro, East West Symphonic Choirs
Instruments Played
Piano
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