Nextet new music Podcast Episodes – Composer Spotlight and Cross-Genre music

The Nextet New Music series at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, released a podcast episode : Composer Spotlight featuring Jennifer Bellor:

On this episode co-hosted by Diego Vega and Zoe Conrad, I’m asked about my musical background and talk about current projects. Check it out! Zoe and I are also wearing Halloween costumes, since this episode was released the week of Halloween.

Another Nextet new music podcast episode released early November featured various Nextet team members in discussions related to Cross-genre music. Micaela Nielson (violist) and I are featured in the first conversation on this episode:

A Song of Flight feat. the Heartland Marimba Orchestra

“A Song of Flight” performed by the Heartland Marimba Orchestra 🎶

Heartland Marimba arranged my song for soprano and piano to feature eleven performers (marimba, vibraphone, and glockenspiel). This was such a cool experience for me to hear this song reinvented by this group, and it has inspired me to think about how many more of my songs that can be adapted to fit a variety of instrumentations.

The performance features: Chad Beebe, Jaime Esposito, Josh Fulford, Hunter Gross, Tyler Marvin, Joe Millea, Jordan Nielsen, Ryan Pearson, Alyssa Resh, Matt Silverberg, and Lauren Teel.

Sky Bells (2020) – Orchestra or Wind Ensemble – Flexible Instrumentation

Sky Bells (2020)

for orchestra

Duration: 8 1/2 minutes

2 Flutes – 1 Oboe – 1 English Horn – 1 Clarinet in Bb – *1 Bass Clarinet – 2 Bassoon – 4 Horn in F – 2 Trumpet in C – 2 Trombone – 1 Bass Trombone – 1 Tuba – Timpani – *Percussion – Harp – Piano – Full Strings

Flexible Instrumentation:

*Second clarinet in Bb part available in lieu of bass clarinet

* If 3 percussionists are not available, there is a part available for 1 percussionist.

Click HERE to view the score.

MIDI realization

Sky Bells was commissioned by the Henderson Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Alexandra Arrieche for premiere on their 2021 concert season.

There is also a version available for wind orchestra.:


for wind orchestra

Duration: 8 1/2 minutes

Wind Orchestra Instrumentation (same as wind ensemble plus harp and double bass):

Two Flutes – One Oboe – One English Horn – Two Bassoons – One Contrabassoon (optional) – Three Clarinets in Bb – One Bass Clarinet – One Contrabass Clarinet (optional) – One Soprano Saxophone – One Alto Saxophone – One Tenor Saxophone – One Baritone Saxophone – Three Trumpets in Bb – Four Horns – Two Trombones – One Bass Trombone – One Euphonium – Tuba – Double Bass (optional) – Harp (optional) – Piano – Timpani – Three Percussion

Click HERE to view the score.

MIDI realization

Celestial Surroundings for brass sextet, pipe organ, and percussion – new version now available

Here is the newly revised version of my composition Celestial Surroundings.

3 Trumpets in C, 1 Horn in F, 2 Trombones, *Percussion, Pipe Organ

*Optional percussion: The percussion part is optional, and all or some of the part can be played given the availability of the following instruments:

Tubular Bells, Suspended cymbal, Glockenspiel

Flexible instrumentation: Contact info@jenniferbellor.com.

MIDI demo with score of the new version:

Duration: 7 minutes

Celestial Surroundings (2009) was premiered by organist Nicole Marane and brass players from the Atlanta Symphony at Peachtree United Methodist church in Atlanta, GA February 8, 2009.

Here is a recording of the original version from the premiere:

New multi-screen music video: “Echo” for soprano and piano (excerpt) feat. Linda Lister and Katie Leung

My first multi-screen music video collaboration! 😅🎶 Linda Lister and Katie Leung are performing an excerpt of my song “Echo” from my song cycle “A Smile and a Sigh” (the soprano and piano version). They were going to perform it on the April 6th Nextet new music concert here at UNLV, but since the concert was canceled, I figured it would be fun to learn how to create multi-screen music videos. I spent the entire day putting this together, and learned so much! I can’t thank them enough for taking the time to record the excerpt! 😄