Lincoln, Neb.—John Kosch, a third year D.M.A. student in the Glenn Korff School of Music, has received a DownBeat Student Music Award in the category of Original Composition Large Ensemble Graduate College Winners for his composition, “Syncing. . . .”
The 48th annual DownBeat Student Music Awards, presented by DownBeat magazine, are considered the most prestigious awards in jazz education.
“It’s very exciting, and it couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Kosch of the recognition. “In many ways, I think it affirmed the educational journey that I’ve had throughout undergraduate and graduate studies. This piece encapsulates so many things that I have learned throughout my various degrees, so to have that kind of stamp of approval on it felt really nice.”
His professor Greg Simon, associate professor of composition and jazz studies in the Glenn Korff School of Music, said Kosch is a composer that he admires.
“He’s got this amazing talent for writing music that’s deeply faithful to its tradition, while also finding incredible ways to innovate and experiment,” he said. “Working with him on ‘Syncing’ was a blast because it was occasion for us to have really big conversations about writing for big band; the craft of it, sure, but also the philosophy of working within the tradition and writing for improvising musicians. The resulting piece is one of my favorite new works for the medium. It’s dynamic and energetic, and bold in its gestures and textures—but at the same time, it’s deeply personal and heartfelt. It’s really a showcase of all the spectacular things the big band can do.”
The title, “Syncing. . .,” is a play on words.
“Syncing as in synchronizing or sinking as in sinking into the depths,” Kosch said. “I wrote this chart at a time where I felt like I couldn’t ever quite keep up with things that were going on, so I was always trying to catch up to get in sync, but I felt like I was sinking further and further back, so the music is definitely very chaotic in nature. It combines aspects of my interest in heavy metal with jazz music and even with some avant-garde kind of new music techniques to help express some of that chaos and anxiety. I needed something just a little bit edgier than the typical big band palette could offer, so I tried to be a little experimental in that regard.”
The piece premiered last spring when the UNL Jazz Orchestra performed it at their spring concert at Storm Cellar.
Kosch won a DownBeat Student Music Award previously in 2015 as an undergrad at Nebraska. He has also received several other honors for his compositions including The Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award, first place in the NAfME Young Composers Competition, a merit award from the Tribeca New Music Young Composer Composition and an honorable mention from Austin Classical Guitar. He is also a two-time finalist for the American Prize, and his works have been selected for performances at regional and national Society of Composers conferences.
Kosch said this DownBeat award was affirming to him.
“Everyone deals with some level of imposter syndrome, wondering if they’re good enough,” he said. “And I think it had been a while since I had such a big win. I was happy to have some of the early successes that I did, but it felt like I went through a little bit of a dry spell. It was nice to have that affirmation that I can still write at a very high level with the best of them. The DownBeat awards are a competition, and I’m competing with the best writers from all the best schools across the world, and the University of Nebraska can go toe-to-toe with those institutions.”
Kosch began writing songs back in middle school.
“The story I always tell when people ask is that I started writing pop songs—horrible pop songs—for girls that I liked in middle school,” he said. “And when I got to high school, I was really blessed to be part of a musical community that valued improvisation and composition, particularly songwriting, but other forms of composition as well.”
When he was a freshman in high school at Lincoln Southwest, he met a senior named Nick Dahlquist (B.M. 2013) who ended up going to UNL to study composition.
“I came to the UNL composition recitals when I was a high school student,” Kosch said. “And I think that really piqued my interest in it as an art form and not just a hobby.”
He likes that composing allows him to synthesize knowledge from many different areas.
“I think that was the conundrum that I encountered when I was trying to determine what I was going to study in college,” Kosch said. “I really like teaching, I like music, but I don’t want to do just instrumental music or just vocal music. I was kind of involved in everything, and so composition was a way that I could still take part in all of my broad musical interests.”
Kosch appreciates the experience he has received as a doctoral student in the Glenn Korff School of Music.
“It’s provided me a lot of flexibility to just pursue what I wanted to do, and the support to pursue projects outside of the school,” he said. “I was able to be almost a full-time working composer while doing my studies here, and I think, at this point, that’s what I really needed was some flexibility to pursue some of those commissions.”
He has also appreciated the experience of teaching as a graduate teaching assistant and he currently also teaches applied composition at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska.
“It’s just been invaluable experience as I proceed further and try to become a full-time professor in higher education. That’s the hope,” he said.
Kosch said it’s been a “wild journey,” going from undergrad to doctoral student at Nebraska.
“When I was an undergrad, I looked up to certain doctoral students, who I felt like were very accomplished and skilled,” he said. “And I think over the course of my studies, my seven years as a student at UNL, I think I’ve been able to become one of those doctoral students that I admired. Hopefully the next step is to become the faculty member that I so respected.”
