Biography
Jared Richardson is a musician from Victoria, BC, who plays the piano and trombone. Currently studying music at the University of Victoria, Jared is a composer who has currently written more than 80 pieces spanning a number of genres including classical, rock/pop, jazz, and film music. His compositions have been performed by many ensembles, including the concert and jazz bands at Spectrum Community School and Reynolds Secondary School, the SMUS Senior Jazz Band, the 2011 Yamaha All-Star Band, the UVic Jazz Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Three years in a row, Jared participated in "vsNEW", the Victoria Symphony's young composer workshop, in which the participants were to write a piece to be performed by a trio of musicians from the orchestra. Each of the three pieces Jared wrote won awards at the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival.
Over the years, Jared studied as a music student at both Spectrum Community School and Reynolds Secondary School. In late 2009, Jared started a jazz group, "The Jared Richardson Trio", with two other Reynolds students. The trio performed regularly for over a year and had the distinction of being the "House Band" at the Superior Café from September to December 2010.
In April 2010, Jared's first orchestral piece, Winds of Kananaskis, was read by the Victoria Symphony. In Spring 2010, Jared composed a 15-minute original score to a short action-adventure film directed by Tim Matthews. The film was premiered at a small theatre in Victoria in June 2010, and released online soon after. In the fall of 2010, Jared finished Riders of the West, a second piece for orchestra, and it was read by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in March 2011. He then wrote an orchestral arrangement of Double Agent, the main theme from his short film score, and it was read by the Victoria Symphony, also in March 2011. For the Victoria Symphony Splash in July 2011, the Victoria Symphony chose to feature Jared Richardson as the first ever "Splash Young Composer", performing his piece Winds of Kananaskis for an audience of over 40, 000 people. Jared has since composed two new works for orchestra, Hurricane Ridge and Tales from Thieves' Bay, which have yet to be premiered by a live ensemble.
In May 2011, Jared was selected to play trombone in the Yamaha All-Star Band, an honour jazz band made up of the best young musicians across Canada. At their performance, they played Timetrain, one of Jared's recent pieces for big band. The same piece was performed again in November 2011 by the UVic Jazz Orchestra, in which Jared has been the lead trombone player since September 2011. Jared also currently plays piano in a jazz duo known as "The Rich Brothers", with his brother Ashlin Richardson on double bass, and they can often be heard performing at the Superior Café.
Jared has received a number of awards for his musical accomplishments:
- "Top Performance in Senior Jazz Band" at Spectrum Community School (2008, 2009, and 2011)
- "Save On Foods Amazing Kids Scholarship" (2009)
- First prize in the Composition Category at the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival (2009, 2010, and 2011)
- "Jazz Musicianship Award" at Reynolds Secondary School (2010)
- "Horizon Jazz Piano Award" at the Victoria Conservatory of Music (2010)
- First prize in the Senior Category of the Murray Adaskin Composition Competition (2010)
- "Hilda King Music Theory Award" from the B.C. Registered Music Teachers Association (2011)
- Nomination for "Youth Artist of the Year" in the Vancouver Island Music Awards (2011)
- "Adjudicator's Choice" award in the Composition Category at the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival (2011)
- Piano sight-reading award at the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival (2011)
- First place in the School District #61 Music Scholarship Competition (2011)