Featured composer

Carl MaultsBy

Composer, arranger, conductor, keyboardist, singer, executive artistic director of Rejoicensemble, and now, author of Playing Gospel Piano, Carl MaultsBy is a contemporary "renaissance artist" whose talents have been utilized both in the commercial media of musical theatre, film,

television, records, and in the cultural media as well. He earned the Masters of Music degree in Jazz/Commercial Composition from Manhattan School of Music, New York, N.Y., where he studied composition with Richard DeRosa and film scoring with Ed Green. MaultsBy earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and Music from Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL. In addition, he attended Columbia University, New York where he studied composition with the late Vladamir Ussachevsky and electronic composition with Mario Davidovsky.

MaultsBy's compositions include Intermezzo on "Victory" for brass quartet, timpani and organ; Toccata on "Spirit of the Living God" for organ; a string trio, "Trio de Gaudin Volage," composed for the Trio de St. Georges; Rejoice!, a revue composed for the Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors Concert by Rejoicensemble!; Marche for Three Trumpets and Organ; Pentecostal Mass, a concert mass written in Latin, Greek, French, Spanish and English; a sacred jazz suite, Matendo Matatu Ya Roho; a sacred jazz requiem entitled, A Sacred Jazz Requiem: Strong and Graceful Oaks, written for soprano, alto, tenor and baritone soloists, male chorus, piano, contra-bass, bassoon, soprano saxophone, and drums. Excerpts from his St. Mary Mass are published in Lift Every Voice and Sing II ù An African American Hymnal, and in Worship, Love and Praise. Other sacred works include Kyrie for tenor soloist, SATB chorus, 2 trumpets, strings and organ; Alleluias, Psalms and Chants for the Liturgical Church Years; a congregational mass, Mass for Grace; Fanfare and Alleluia for a Festal Morning scored for tenor soloist, SATB chorus, trumpet, flugelhorn, and 2 trombones; Christ, the Lord, Is Risen Indeed for tenor soloist, SSATTB chorus, 3 trumpets, and organ. In 1995, MaultsBy was commissioned to write Mountain Mover (scored for soprano solo, SSATB chorus and drums) for the Centennial Celebration of Jones High School, Orlando, FL. In the area of film, MaultsBy composed and performed the song "Blackbird Fly" for the Harry Belafonte movie Beat Street. He also arranged three other songs for the movie including "Us Girl's" from the movie's RIAA certified gold sound track album. MaultsBy received an American Song Festival Honorable Mention Award for his compositions, "Seasons of Love" and "Nothing Hurts More." In the area of musical theater, he composed the original dance music for the Broadway musical production, It's So Nice To Be Civilized, as well as for several other Off-Broadway productions including the composition "Night Riders" for the Amas Repertory Theatre production of Peanut Man. MaultsBy has arranged music for the touring acts of Cab Calloway's "Cotton Club Revue," Suzette Charles, The Williams Brothers, and Harry Belafonte. MaultsBy has collaborated as composer and arranger on records with such artists as Harry Belafonte, Vivian Reed, Friends of Distinction, Baby Washington, David Lampell, Pure Inergy, Weldon Irvine, and Zulema. His career in records began with his being signed as a songwriter to Donny Hathaway's Don-Pow Publishing Company. It was the skills MaultsBy learned while working with Hathaway that led to his working as a staff artist and repertoire (a&r) producer for RCA Records, as well as recording with artists at Columbia Records, United Artists Records, Atlantic Records, Sesame Street Records, Polygram Records, Lawton Records, and Carrere Records. MaultsBy is the founder and executive artistic director of Rejoicensemble! Inc., a chamber vocal ensemble that sings music of the African Diaspora. In addition, he was the 2000-2001 Guest Director of the Dartmouth College Gospel Choir, Hanover, NH; and a guest conductor at the 2001 Association of Anglican Musicians Conference, New York, NY, USA. MaultsBy has also served as Choir Director and Organist, St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, New York; Assistant Organist, St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Harlem, New York; Director of the Chancel Choir, Abyssinian Baptist Church, Harlem, New York, Director of Music and Organist at First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, New York and Director of the City College of New York Gospel Choir. He has played keyboards for the Broadway musicals: "Jelly's Last Jam," "High Rollers," "Big Deal," "It's So Nice to be Civilized," "Eubie," "Timbuktu," "Ain't Misbehavin', Bubbling Brown

Sugar, as well as for the National Companies of "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope," the play "Paul Robeson," and numerous other Off-Broadway productions. He is currently the Director of Music Ministry at the Church of Saint Marks in Brooklyn.

Carl MaultsBy continues to write original compositions and arrange traditional music for performance by Rejoicensemble! and others. He is the author of “Playing Gospel Piano.”

For more information on Carl MaultsBy: http://www.rejoicensemble.org/rejoicarlbio2.html.

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