Jay "Bluejay" Greenberg (born December 13, 1991) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and former

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

who entered the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in 2002 at age 10.

Life and work

Greenberg was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. He caught the attention of the American media through the sponsorship of

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

instructor Samuel Zyman during a

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

'' broadcast on November 28, 2004, when Greenberg was 12, and again in November 2006. Zyman told ''60 Minutes'', "We are talking about a prodigy of the level of the greatest prodigies in history, when it comes to composition. I am talking about the likes of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

, and

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...

, and Saint-Saëns." Greenberg's primary composition instructor was Samuel Adler. He composes primarily on his computer using a

music notation program A scorewriter, or music notation program is software for creating, editing and printing sheet music. A scorewriter is to music notation what a word processor is to text, in that they typically provide flexible editing and automatic layout, and pr ...

and is mostly known for his work ''Overture to 9-11'' about the

September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, which was featured on PRI's ''

From the Top From the Top is an independent nonprofit organization known best for its longstanding NPR radio and PBS television programs with the same name. Co-founded by Gerald Slavet and Jennifer Hurley-Wales in 1995, the organization showcases and develo ...

''. On 9/11, he was living in

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

but has since returned to the United States. Neither his father, Robert Greenberg, a professor of

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

nor his

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i-born mother have musical backgrounds, but Greenberg found himself attracted to music from an early age, having begun playing the cello at 2 years old. Greenberg has said he hears the music performed inside his head, like many composers, and often several musical pieces simultaneously, and he is then able to simply notate what he has listened to, and rarely needs to make corrections to what he has notated. The

Sony Classical Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired by S ...

label released his first CD on August 15, 2006; it includes his Symphony No. 5 and String Quintet as performed by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

under the direction of

José Serebrier José Serebrier (born 3 December 1938) is a Uruguayan conductor and composer. He is one of the most recorded conductors of his generation. Early life Serebrier was born in Montevideo to Russian and Polish parents of Jewish extraction. He fi ...

and by the

Juilliard String Quartet The Juilliard String Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York by William Schuman. Since its inception, it has been the quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School. It has received numerous ...

with cellist Darrett Adkins respectively.Gurewitsch, Matthew (13 August 2006)
"Early Works of a New Composer (Very Early, in Fact)"
. ''

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''. On October 28, 2007,

Joshua Bell Joshua David Bell (born December 9, 1967) is an American violinist and conductor. He plays the Gibson Stradivarius. Early life and education Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, to Shirley Bell, a therapist, and Alan P. Bell, a psychologis ...

gave the premiere of Greenberg's Violin Concerto at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, performing with the

Orchestra of St. Luke's The Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) is an American chamber orchestra based in New York City, formed in 1974. Orchestra of St. Luke’s presents over 70 concerts, programs, and events in a variety of diverse musical genres every season, including an ...

. The 2011 contemporary classical album

Troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three') may refer to: Cultural tradition * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia * Troika (dance), a Russian folk dance Polit ...

includes Jay Greenberg's song "I still keep mute", setting a poem by

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...

. Greenberg's works are published by G. Schirmer. As of 2012 Greenberg was majoring in music at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

. He is currently pursuing a DMus degree at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, under the supervision of

Eve de Castro-Robinson Eve de Castro-Robinson (born 9 November 1956 in London, England) is a New Zealand composer, professor and graphic designer. Her compositions include orchestral, vocal, chamber and electroacoustic works. She studied at the University of Auckland ...

Compositions

Greenberg's compositions include the following:

Orchestral

*Symphony No. 5 (2005) *''Intelligent Life'' (2006) *''Skyline Dances - A Terpsichorean Couplet'' (2009) (commissioned by a consortium of youth orchestras)

Concertante

*Concerto for Piano Trio and Orchestra (2007) *Violin Concerto (2007), commissioned by

Chamber works

*String Quintet (2004) *Sonata for violoncello and piano (2004) *''Hexalogue'' for wind quintet and piano (2005) *''Four Scenes'' for double string quartet (2008) *Quintet for Brass, op. 25 (2012)

Stage works

*''Neon Refracted'': Ballet for chamber orchestra (2009), commissioned by

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

Ross, Alex (28 June 2010)
"Music in Motion, New scores at New York City Ballet
. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''.

References

External links

Biography
at

IMG Artists IMG Artists LLC is a performing arts management corporation. History In 1979 Charles Hamlen and Edna Landau co-founded Hamlen/Landau, a New York-based musical artist management agency. In 1984 it was acquired by International Management Group an ...

"From the Top" episode
featuring Greenberg and his 9/11 Overture (starts at 36:xx)

by Isidor Saslav
"USA's Musically Gifted Youths:JAY GREENBERG at age 12 (2004)"
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

"USA's Musically Gifted Youths: JAY GREENBERG at age 15 (2007)"
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenberg, Jay 1991 births Living people 21st-century classical composers American child musicians American classical cellists American people of Israeli descent American male classical composers American classical composers Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut Pupils of Samuel Adler (composer) Sony Classical Records artists 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century cellists