Welcome to Graphite: Jennifer Lucy Cook!

Contributing Editor: Jonathan Campbell

Graphite proudly welcomes Jennifer Lucy Cook! Her music is fresh, colorful, and vibrant, infused with an open embrace of popular idioms. She likes to “get into a groove” with pop rhythms which are then layered with melodic ideas. In addition, her scores are laced with imagery.

Over and Over
SSAA choir with TBB and/or synth
Difficulty:

In “Over and Over,” Cook embraces innovative instrumentation with a synthesizer. “The pipe organ is the original synthesizer—it mocks up an orchestra, and expresses the lowest notes possible. For me, the synthesizer is the modern version of the pipe organ, especially ‘synth bass.’” “Over and Over” explores the monotony and loneliness we all occasionally experience. In this piece, the plural “we” become united in a communal musical expression.

They Are Mother
SATB div. choir, SA solo group, and piano
Difficulty:

“They are Mother,” embraces the “feminine Divine”—the feminine spirit that resides in all people. The subject is non-binary, but also non-singular; the music is expressed as a collective “we.” This piece explores the extreme of the human experience: loud, quiet, happy, reverent, and joyful. “They Are Mother” was the winner of the Chorus Austin composition prize in 2022!

Blow, Blow, thou Winter Wind
for SSA choir, tambourine & hand drum
Difficulty:

“Blow, Blow, Winter Wind” was commissioned by the Globe Theater in London for a children’s choir. She combined a “medieval vibe” with rigorous dance rhythms that portray the blowing winds of winter, as well as the spirited human resistance to it. Kids love singing it, and you’ll enjoy teaching it.

For You I Will Be An Island
SATB div. a cappella choir
Difficulty:

One of the bright spots of the global pandemic is the creation of new music and art. Cook’s “For You I Will be an Island” was written in the initial days of the lockdown, when the best thing we could do for each other was to stay away from each other. Extreme ranges at the climax portray the great distances we experience from those we love. A section set for wordless chorus represents crashing waves.

“I tried to think about other times we show kindness by letting people go, a unique kind of loneliness when we choose it out of love.”

– Jennifer Lucy Cook

About Jennifer Lucy Cook

Jennifer Lucy Cook (she/her) is a composer and lyricist based in Los Angeles. Jen specializes in musical comedy for the stage and screen, progressive choral music, and pop songwriting. Recent choral commissions include Cantorum Chamber Choir, Opus Vocal Ensemble, and the UVU Chamber Choir. She is the recipient of the 2022 Chorus Austin Composition prize and the 2022 Cantus Emerging Composer Award.

Her theater commissions include Full House Theatre Co., British Youth Musical Theatre, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, and her musical recaps of the Bachelor recently went viral on TikTok. She is currently developing multiple musical projects, including the stage shows Aurora and Salem and an upcoming streaming musical series.

Jen is also an accomplished vocalist in demand as a session singer for film projects. She is credited both as an additional composer and singer on several upcoming films, including Toxic Avenger (Legendary Pictures), the documentaries A Mother Knows (Netflix) and Ballistic (Netflix). Her pop songwriting credits range from title songs in video games like Torsion (Starcade Arcade) to pop collaborations with artists including Little Monarch, Matt Terry, and Arun Blair-Mangat.

Despite writing music in such a wide range of genres, Jen’s music is united by a keen love for storytelling with song. She prioritizes specific, highly emotional lyrics, melodic earworms, and infectious rhythmic grooves, and conceives of every piece from a dramatic, narrative-driven perspective. She earned a Master’s degree in Musical Theater Writing from Goldsmiths University in London and a Bachelor’s in Media Music from Brigham Young University. Jen is mentored by renowned composer Eric Whitacre.

Graphite Shout Out:

We are thrilled that Graphite composer Ellen Gilson Voth recently won two prestigious awards: the ACDA Pearl Prize for “Standing Tall” and the American Prize for “Across the Empty Square.”

Great work, Ellen!

Our Contributing Editor

Jonathan Campbell, BA, MSM, DMA, currently serves as Director of Music at Zion Lutheran Church, Anoka, MN., and is a Contributing Editor for Graphite Publishing. His music publishers include Augsburg Fortress, Concordia, Morningstar, GIA, Sacred Music Press, and Falls House. He won first prize in the Morningside Choral Composition Contest and was also awarded a Faith Partner’s Residency with the American Composer’s Forum. Jonathan has served many churches, conducted the Chorale of the Honors Choirs S.E. MN for eight years, and has served on the faculties of Winona State University, Augsburg University, and Pomona College.

Welcome to Graphite: Jennifer Lucy Cook!