Jennifer M. O’Neill, a native of Newfoundland, hold a Bachelor of Music from Memorial University and a Masters of Music from the University of Calgary where she studied composition with Allan Bell. While in Calgary she also studied with David Eagle and William Jordan. At Memorial University she studied composition with Clark Ross. During her time in university she received many scholarships and awards for composition.
As a composer she has had numerous performances, commissions and broadcasts. In the summer of 2003, Ms. O’Neill had her international debut at the World Saxophone Congress XIII in Minneapolis with her solo saxophone composition Sketches. The Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, in October 2004, premiered her orchestral work Rising Moon and in July 2005, Fanfare Among the Waves for orchestra, toured Japan after receiving its premiere in St. John’s. In July 2006, her piece for harpsichord and marimba, commissioned by Newfoundland harpsichordist Mary O’Keeffe and entitled In Dreams I Dance on Shale, was premiered at Sound Symposium XIII and later broadcast on CBC Radio Two’s Two New Hours as well as CBC Radio One’s MusiCraft. For the past two years she has had pieces performed at the School of Music’s new music festival NewFound Music and will have two pieces performed at the festival this coming February. In 2007 she will have pieces premiered in Newfoundland, New Brunswick and British Columbia. She is currently working on a piece for piano and percussion that will premiere in Vancouver in May 2007.
In addition to being a composer, Ms. O’Neill also plays trombone in JazzEast big band, sits on the Board of Directors for the Quintessential Vocal Ensemble and works as a Development Officer for the Faculty of Arts and School of Music at Memorial University in Newfoundland.
July 2007