With so many talented composers in our catalogs, we want to take time to highlight the creativity, process, and passion of those with new music releasing. Each month of 2025 we will feature a composer who has a new piece coming out soon or who has recently published with us in an installment of "Beyond the Score." Today, we are talking with Jantz Black.
What inspired you to begin studying music?
To be totally honest—jealousy! Although I quit taking piano lessons at a very early age, my sister continued for at least 10 years and was quite good by the time she was in high school. My mother and father were also musically inclined, and I started having a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out). So, somewhere along the way I sat down at the piano and started plunking out hymn tunes by ear, and it eventually altered the course of my life into music. I was hooked.
What motivates you musically today?
Music touches us in such deep and personal ways. I am energized by the sonic possibilities of vocalists, choirs, instruments, and congregations in making music together. We can share songs of triumph and hope, as well as our deepest sorrows and laments. Music somehow conveys the emotional experiences we all share as human beings, and I find it so rewarding to be a part of creating these experiences for musicians and congregations or audiences.
What do you draw on for inspiration as you begin a new composition?
There have been many sources of inspiration over the years, and it constantly changes. Sometimes the inspiration comes from trying to fill a need for my own ensembles. Sometimes it comes from freely improvising at the keyboard, Sometimes it comes by opening my hymnal and spotting a line of text I never appreciated before. And sometimes it comes from needing to work out my own thoughts, feelings, or concerns. Inspiration is often elusive, and many times you just have to start writing and the inspiration comes during the process of composing instead of before.
What is your favorite piece of music and why?
Oh my—how can anyone decide on a single favorite? The number of worthy choices is too great. But if I had to put together a playlist of favorite composers across any genre, it would include J.S. Bach, Chopin, John Rutter, Stephen Paulus, Eric Whitacre, Craig Hella Johnson, Elaine Hagenberg, Mack Wilberg, Morten Lauridsen, Howard Helvey, Carl Schalk, Paul Manz, Franklin Ashdown, and many more!
What draws you to write music for the church, and how do you approach text and music for ensembles that are mostly music-loving amateurs?
Most of my composing has been for specific needs, specific services, and specific ensembles or congregations that I have served in. I feel a sense of excitement and inspiration because I am writing for people I know and love personally, and for congregations I serve in personally. There’s something very motivating to write music for people you know because you craft your composition to best serve them and their musical strengths, or to serve the setting or service in which the music will be used. It has been my experience that there are diminishing returns when writing overly difficult or complex music, and that keeping things more accessible leads to more beautiful music-making for most people. And, in those instances where highly gifted or professional musicians play or sing something I wrote, they are able to create a musical artistry that far transcends what is simply notated on the page.
What is one experience that you have had that wouldn’t have been available if you hadn’t been in the music world?
In April 2025, I was able to attend the Area 5 Handbell Musicians of America convention, where over 650 bell ringers performed one of my compositions on their closing concert. The piece was written in honor of one of my musical colleagues upon her retirement, and she was there, ringing along with everyone else. It was quite an experience!
What is a favorite hobby or interested outside of music?
During and after the 2020 Pandemic, my childhood interest in aviation was reignited. I have spent the last two and a half years slowly working on my Private Pilot Certificate, and I should be licensed by this summer.
We are grateful for Jantz's work and the impact it has on the ministry we serve. To learn more about Jantz and his work, check out his releases through Augsburg Fortress here, and his website, www.jantzblack.com.