Minnesota-based solo/chamber artist and composer Julie Sweet holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from Minnesota State University Mankato. During her graduate years, she studied composition with David Dickau and developed close ties with guest artist/American composer, Jeffrey Brooks, who has believed in her writing-style since day one. Julie is the founder, flight director and pianist of Sound Field (formerly, Skeleton Crew), an organization committed to celebrating music by contemporary classicists and minimalists. In addition, Julie is a former seasonal pianist of the widely acclaimed new music ensemble Zeitgeist and has been an avid freelance educator since 1998. She enjoys finding hidden time to explore different roads, towns/cities and hiking trails with her trusty camera (Pentax K-01).
Julie is one of three winners of Zeitgeist's 2021 Eric Stokes Song Contest. Named in memory of late composer Eric Stokes, the contest is designed to encourage and celebrate amateur composers throughout the Twin Cities. Julie's winning composition, entitled Are you there?, will be featured on Zeitgeist's annual Playing it Close to Home concert, Sept. 10-11 at Studio Z.
Are you there? (2020) was written for piano and soundtrack (or vibraphone, piano and soundtrack) with optional videography by the composer to accompany the music. Julie writes:
"I began composing Are you there? during a pandemic lock-down. The sidewalks and hiking trails were eerily quiet then. It was on my solo walks, I did most of my composing. I'm interested in writing a multi-movement work that has an indie-like film quality about it. Slowly but surely my soundtrack for solo, mixed-chamber and pre-recorded sounds evolves. The videography for Are you there? was captured outside a bar/diner in Uptown Minneapolis on an unusually warm November day last year; the same day election results were announced. This explains all the activity you see through the glass. Uptown came back to life, momentarily. I took the video with the intent of pairing it with Are you there? They ended up being a good fit."
Julie is one of three winners of Zeitgeist's 2021 Eric Stokes Song Contest. Named in memory of late composer Eric Stokes, the contest is designed to encourage and celebrate amateur composers throughout the Twin Cities. Julie's winning composition, entitled Are you there?, will be featured on Zeitgeist's annual Playing it Close to Home concert, Sept. 10-11 at Studio Z.
Are you there? (2020) was written for piano and soundtrack (or vibraphone, piano and soundtrack) with optional videography by the composer to accompany the music. Julie writes:
"I began composing Are you there? during a pandemic lock-down. The sidewalks and hiking trails were eerily quiet then. It was on my solo walks, I did most of my composing. I'm interested in writing a multi-movement work that has an indie-like film quality about it. Slowly but surely my soundtrack for solo, mixed-chamber and pre-recorded sounds evolves. The videography for Are you there? was captured outside a bar/diner in Uptown Minneapolis on an unusually warm November day last year; the same day election results were announced. This explains all the activity you see through the glass. Uptown came back to life, momentarily. I took the video with the intent of pairing it with Are you there? They ended up being a good fit."
Playing it Close to Home
Sept. 10-11, 7:30 p.m.
Studio Z: 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul
$15 / $10 students & seniors
Tickets/Info
With winning songs from the 2021 Eric Stokes Song Contest plus music by local composer Michelle Kinney, Zeitgeist’s Playing it Close to Home concert celebrates the wealth of musical creativity found right here in our own backyard. The program includes music by Eric Stokes Song Contest winners Ilan Blanck, Julie Sweet, and Ellie Gold, plus the world premiere of new music composed for Zeitgeist by Michelle Kinney.
*Seating is limited to allow for social distancing. Masks will be required and attendees must provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result from the previous 72 hours.*
Studio Z: 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul
$15 / $10 students & seniors
Tickets/Info
With winning songs from the 2021 Eric Stokes Song Contest plus music by local composer Michelle Kinney, Zeitgeist’s Playing it Close to Home concert celebrates the wealth of musical creativity found right here in our own backyard. The program includes music by Eric Stokes Song Contest winners Ilan Blanck, Julie Sweet, and Ellie Gold, plus the world premiere of new music composed for Zeitgeist by Michelle Kinney.
*Seating is limited to allow for social distancing. Masks will be required and attendees must provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result from the previous 72 hours.*
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