Jennifer Bellor, High Resolution

String Orchestra Version:
Instrumentation: string orchestra, harp, and percussion
Duration: 4 min

Jazz Band + Orchestra Version:
Instrumentation: 1000, 1440, 1 Alto sax, 2 Tenor sax, 1 Baritone sax, Perc, Pno, Ele Guitar, Drum set, Strings (Vln 1, 2, 3, Viola, Cello 1, 2, and Double Bass)
Duration: 7 minutes

Program Note:
High Resolution (2019) was written for my new concept album inspired by images associated with dreams, sleeping, and how we view our own reality. The majority of my dreams are vivid, and feel I experience two different realities on a regular basis: one awake and one asleep. I titled this “high resolution” because these dreams of ten times give me a heightened sense of clarity, helping me meet challenges and work out ideas when I am awake.

The combined Jazz+Orchestra version is really fun and effective, and a wonderful addition to a combined concert or pops program. Putting together the two groups of jazz ensemble and orchestra was not tricky, and members of the jazz band get some nice featured solos.

In the string orchestra version, the harp part has a rather substantive part. The string parts are not too difficult, though.

Described as “evocative” (Jazz Weekly), “lyrical,” and “mesmerizing” (textura), the music of Las Vegas-based composer Jennifer Bellor has been presented by Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, American Composers Orchestra, Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Wuhan Philharmonic Chamber Series, Lviv Philharmonic, Clocks in Motion, ShoutHouse, Florida State University Festival of New Music, Hildegard Festival, Missouri State University Composition Festival, Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, Eastman Saxophone project, UNLV Wind Orchestra, Transient Canvas, Elevate Ensemble, and many others in the US and abroad.

Bellor’s recent album “Reflections at Dusk” was released by Innova Recordings November 2019, and showcases instrumental music inspired by the Nevada sunsets. The album has been described as “crepuscular,” “mystical,” and “magical,” with one reviewer stating, “she’s also that rare composer whose music manages to be instantly listenable and emotionally resonant without any compromise to its sophistication.” – textura. Her music draws on a variety of influences, evidenced in her debut album Stay (2016), which was featured on NewMusicBox’s 2016 Staff picks, and praised as having the ability to “maintain a highly individual identity without needing to take refuge in pre-post-genre musical silos.”

Bellor holds a PhD in music composition at Eastman School of Music, a Master of Music degree in composition at Syracuse University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music at Cornell University. She is on the composition faculty at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and artistic director of the new music series Nextet. For more information, please visit her website, www.jenniferbellor.com.

Scores and parts for all versions are available through the composer’s website.

● Jazz Orchestra Version:
Recording on YouTube by the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble (premiere)

● String Orchestra Version:
Recording on YouTube by the Clark High School Symphonic Strings