Multi-award winning costume creator Jay Batzner (b. 1974) is better known for his musical activities than his sewing skills. While he has sung in Tosca and danced in The Nutcracker, it is his repertoire of original compositions which has earned him the most recognition.
Jay is a composer who has Done Things and Been Performed Places. His catalog ranges from traditional ensembles such as natural horn + live electronics, 4-hand organ duo, and countertenor + alto sax, to the unusual and idiosyncratic ensembles of voice + piano, unaccompanied bassoon, and choir. His works have been performed on all habitable planets in the known universe.
As a collaborator, Jay has created music with numerous choreographers, visual artists, and poets. His interdisciplinary work with Team Hyena Puppet has led to the production of several science-based dance pieces, a journal article, a book chapter, several conference presentations, and a feature in Forbes. It is through this work that Jay claims to know more about hyena mating behaviors than any other musician on the planet.
Currently, Jay rambles about music and various tangents (comic books, science fiction, hyena mating behaviors, etc.) at Central Michigan University. He has degrees from Serious Places but that was a long time ago. Right now Jay is completing his first full-length opera (his first opera was pretty short) and trying to get better at chess. Actually right now Jay is writing this biography but you get the idea.