A Composer's Corner

Join me to hear the soft, gentle, beautiful music of Peter Malmsjö.

Peter was born on March 1, 1962 in Saltsjö-Boo, Stockholms län, Sweden. He had acting roles early on in his life and is known for Ture Sventon - Privatdetektiv (1972), Grisjakten (1970) and Niklas och figuren (1971).

His father, Jan Malmsjö is a great singer and musical star in Sweden, and his mother, Lena Malmsjö, was a production manager and actress, known for Loving Couples (1964), Badarna (1968) and Night Games (1966).

Peter, has also performed in the theater and dance productions, and moved to Italy, performing in the ballet. He traveled extensively and was in a band at one point as well.

Meanwhile, Peter has been composing ever since he was a boy, and his music is widely heard on the internet. His compositions are soft, gentle, and restful and have an organic feel to them that is hard to resist. His piano is tuned to 432 (instead of the more typical 440).

Peter is now an Osteopath in Italy and uses his music to soothe his patients.

You can find him on Facebook and view his recordings here:

https://www.halidonmusic.com/en/peter-j-malmsjo-a-8081.html

Michael Laster is an eclectic composer who weaves seamlessly through many genres and musical styles. He is a composer of traditional orchestral works (the Yakima Symphony Chamber Orchestra) and film (Denture Adventure, Interreflections), as well as chamber works (Quatro Puntos, and the Seasons String Quartet), and large-scale piano works for Robert Frankenberry and Craig Ketter.

In addition to music written for classical ensembles, Michael has composed and performed on numerous alternative rock singles including Snerg Dergus, Vulture Street, Stories, and Physical Dream. For lyrics, performers, song details, and more, explore his Soundcloud page

Michael maintains a busy private teaching studio, scores films, gigs in clubs, and arranges for colleagues including social activist Peter Joseph. A recipient of the Presser Scholarship at the City College of New York where he studied with David Del Tredici, Manhattan-based composer / guitarist Michael Laster has been a fellowship composer at the Seasons Music Festival in Washington, where he worked with Daron Hagen, Larry Alan Smith, Chris Brubeck, and at the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival in Virginia, where he worked with Gilda Lyons.

You can find more information at https://www.michaellaster.com/

Music has always been a kind of magic for Dan, a portal to other realms. When he was young, he was inspired by fantasy novels such as The Lord of the Rings, and is still drawn to myths and legends. He has written works on themes ranging from the planets, the sorcery of Merlin, and the Callanish Stone Circle, to the Torngat Mountains. His aim is to write music that invites audiences into other worlds, so they can re-discover their own sense of wonder.

Although Dan always loved to compose, he was resistant to pursue composition as a career when he was young. As an undergraduate student, he hedged his bets by studying music and English. He also took numerous courses in psychology and neuroscience and even considered a career in law.

When he was awarded a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship to study music in graduate school, he threw caution to the wind and decided to go “all in.” It worked. Upon graduating with his doctorate in composition, he took a position as a music professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and now teaches at Westminster College, where he is serving again as the chair of the School of Music.

See more on Dan at https://www.danielperttu.com/

Composer / pianist Ben Schwendener sustains a unique voice in contemporary creative music and is a leading authority on George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, which he assisted Russell in teaching at the New England Conservatory from 1986 to 2004.

Schwendener’s latest book Organic Music Theory (Pumping Station, 2017, Heights Music International, 2020) presents a new direction in natural pedagogy and dialogue-based arts education, establishing Organic Music Theory and Universal Musical Elements as primary creative sources. He has given lectures, workshops and seminars at Universities and institutions around the world. Schwendener has been on the faculty at the New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music of Bard College for over 30 years. He has also designed classes for non-musicians, based on the inter-discipline correspondences of Organic Music Theory for the Creative and Critical Thinking Department in the Graduate College of Education at UMass Boston.

As a touring performance artist, his groups include FUGUE, with Domenico Botelho and Henry Godfrey, the Mobile Trio with drummer Kenwood Dennard and bassist Marc Friedman, LYRIC with singer Carley DeFranco, as well as collaborations with international musicians and dancers.

Ben lives in Boston with his wife Shari and three children Elodi, Uli and Blue.

Melissa Manchester needs no introduction. Her tremendously successful solo career brought her critical and commercial acclaim. The “Midnight Blue” singer received her first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance in 1979 for the Peter Allen/Carole Bayer Sager-penned “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” winning the Grammy in that category four years later for “You Should Hear How She Talks About You.”

In 1980, Melissa became the first recording artist in the history of the Academy Awards to have two nominated movie themes in a single year, “Through The Eyes Of Love” from Ice Castles and “I’ll Never Say Goodbye” from The Promise, and to perform them both on the Oscar telecast.

Melissa has also had her songs recorded by Barbra Streisand, Roberta Flack, Dusty Springfield, Alison Krauss, Kenny Loggins, and many others. She has written tunes for several other films including The Great Mouse Detective, Lady and the Tramp II, Dirty Girl, and Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls.

In 2024, she released her 25th album, RE:VIEW, featuring previously unreleased songs as well as fresh takes on several of Melissa’s enduring classic hits.

On July 19, 2025 she premiered a 5-movement concerto called AWAKE.

Find more on her website: https://melissamanchester.com/

Composing passionately about the human experience, composer Christina Rusnak works at the intersection of place, nature, culture, history and art to integrate context into her music from the world around her. A storyteller, she seeks to convey something meaningful about the human experience to both the audience and performers. An award-winning freelance composer living in the Pacific Northwest, Ms. Rusnak composes for diverse instrumentations with lyrical lines and organic rhythms and textures.

Her pieces address social and environmental justice, houselessness, immigration from 19th to 21st century perspectives, and more. Her choral work, Liberty’s Light, examines immigration from Ellis Island to the Texas border. “Water and Stone” explores climate, and the impact of water, heat and cold in sculpting Death Valley National Park. “From the Sidewalk”, addresses the invisibility of a homeless woman in New York City. In 2020, Rusnak was commissioned Fanfare for Justice (also Call for Justice) to commemorate the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2025, she is composing a multi-movement work for women’s choir, Women’s Rights are Human Rights addressing degrading rights of women globally.

Recent awards and honors include a 2022 Residency at the Visby International Centre for Composers; 2023 Bronze Global Music Award for Voices of the Land; 2024 American Prize 2nd Place Orchestra for The South Pass, a finalist for FREE LAND, and a 2025 finalist for the American Prize for Orchestra for Time After All. In 2019, she led the renowned Composing in the Wilderness Seminar in Denali for the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. An advocate for New Music, Rusnak currently serves as president of the International Alliance for Women in Music. Her essays on music and advocacy can be found on LandscapeMusic.org and New Music Box and more. Her works are available from Amazon, Naxos and Parma Recordings. Scores are available through her website http://christinarusnak.com and various distributors, and can be viewed via ISSUU.

Andrew Violette (1953-2021) studied at the High School of Music and Art in New York City from 1968 to 1971. He studied composition with Elliott Carter and Roger Sessions and counterpoint with Otto Luening at the Juilliard School of Music in New York from 1971 to 1975, where he earned his B.Mus. and M.Mus., as well as the Lado Prize in Composition. He has composed music for orchestra – including Dawn (1988), Fanfare (1992), and Music In 6 Parts (2000) – as well as chamber music, vocal music, piano solos, and organ solos.

His works have been performed throughout the U.S. Among his honors are seven grants from Meet the Composer (1977, 1982-1987), three fellowships at MacDowell (1983-1985), and fellowships at Yaddo and the Virginia Center for the Arts (both 1999). He composed over 90 works leaving a legacy of wonderful music. Bruce Posner, friend of the composer for 46 years, witnessed the creation of many of Violette’s works. Bruce is preparing an archive of Violette’s writings and performances for posterity.

One of UK's most sought-after and versatile composers, pianist Will Todd is well known for his beautiful and exciting music.

His anthem, The Call of Wisdom, was performed at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations with a TV audience of 45 million people.

His breakthrough work, Mass in Blue (originally titled Jazz Mass), has been performed hundreds of times all over the world.

His arrangement of Amazing Grace was performed at President Obama’s Inauguration Day prayer service in 2013 and as part of the BBC’s Nelson Mandela Thanksgiving Service.

His music is regularly broadcast on Classic FM, and on BBC Radio 3.

Will Todd’s music is valued for its melodic intensity and harmonic skill, often incorporating jazz colors, and his choral music is much in demand from amateur as well as professional performers.

You can find out more on his website

https://willtodd.co.uk/

And find more of his music on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@WillToddMusic

I had the pleasure of interviewing Pasquale Zompa. He and Bernard DeCesare were a songwriting team that wrote some great hits for Fats Domino and Tiny Tim. You will also hear some great pieces from their band Our Patch of Blue.

Pasquale shares some great stories of songwriting in the 70’s and how they had the good fortune to cross paths with some of the great record producers of their time. You’ll hear about his trip to Abbey Road and also hear some of his latest creations and songs in the works.

Mark was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He began composing solo piano music the moment he sat down at the piano at the age of 7. His first piece was called The Cat and the Rain. Mark's music reflects his love for nature, love and relationships, moods, travel and his quest for peace and tranquility.

Mark's music plays around the world on new age radio stations, online internet programs, and satellite programs. His album Feeling Right At Home won the award for Best Original Solo Piano Album at the EPR music awards held in September 2017 at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. In July 2021 Mark reached #1 on the Canadian National Music Spiritual Chart on Reverbnation.com

And most recently (in August 2024) along with co-producer Luc Gilber, Mark recorded his 19th Album, also a collection of 20 new compositions. To be released this coming autumn. In early October Mark will become a certified Qi Gong instructor/teacher.

You can find out more at https://markpinkus.com/