Jake Runestad’s “A Dream So Bright”: A Grammy Nomination and the Role of Dorico in Shaping His Music

In this Dorico Showcase series we’re thrilled to feature composer Jake Runestad, where we talk about his latest Grammy-nominated album, A Dream So Bright: Choral Music of Jake Runestad. Recorded by Arizona-based True Concord Voices & Orchestra, conductor Eric Holtan, and pianist Jeffrey Biegel, A Dream So Bright features two large-scale choral-orchestral works—Earth Symphony, which earned an Emmy Award, and Dreams of the Fallen. This album is already receiving widespread critical acclaim.

In this conversation, Jake shares insights into his creative process, his shift to Dorico after two decades of using Sibelius, and how Dorico has revolutionized his workflow for complex compositions. With a growing list of achievements, including a previous Grammy nomination and numerous prestigious commissions, Jake’s work continues to inspire and connect audiences. Keep reading to find out how music and technology come together to shape his innovative approach to contemporary choral music.

AN: Congratulations on your second GRAMMY® nomination! What does this recognition mean to you as a composer?

Jake Runestad with the album.

JR: Thank you! It’s a great honor to be recognized for years of hard work composing, editing, rehearsing, performing, and recording. I’m really proud of everyone involved who made A Dream So Bright so special and hope this recognition helps more people to encounter the stories we’ve tried to tell through this music.

AN: Tell us more about the album A Dream So Bright. What inspired the pieces featured on it?

JR: This album, recorded by the Arizona-based professional ensemble True Concord Voices & Orchestra and pianist Jeffrey Biegel, features two of my large-scale choral-orchestral works. The first, Dreams of the Fallen, combines the musical forces of solo piano, chorus, and orchestra with powerful texts written by Iraq War veteran and award-winning poet Brian Turner. Part piano concerto and part choral symphony, “Dreams…" explores a soldier's response to the terrors of war, its lasting impact, and the importance of community in helping to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder. The second work, Earth Symphony, is a five-part dramatic monologue from the voice of a post-anthropocene Mother Earth, with an original text by poet Todd Boss. Commissioned by conductor Eric Holtan and True Concord, the work imagines Earth’s hope for humanity, her discovery of its power, her ruination at its hands, her lament at its loss, and her recovery.

From left to right: producer Peter Rutenberg, conductor Eric Holtan, composer Jake Runestad, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, during the recording session for A Dream So Bright: Choral Music of Jake Runestad.

"Earth Symphony" score, Made With Dorico

I had several colleagues who sang the praises of Dorico, so I gave it a whirl…and was hooked! The way Dorico handles note input, cues, condensing, divisi, and parts creation has already saved me countless hours of work. The Note Tools popover is superb, as is the Jump Bar, the handling of slash regions, group dynamics…I could go on and on.

AN: After 20 years with Sibelius, what made you decide to switch to Dorico? What specific features in Dorico have had the most impact on your workflow and creative process?

JR: I was introduced to Sibelius by my high school band teacher, and this jumpstarted my interest in composition. Sibelius had many strengths compared to other software, but there were still frustrations that made for tedious work. I had several colleagues who sang the praises of Dorico, so I gave it a whirl…and was hooked! The way Dorico handles note input, cues, condensing, divisi, and parts creation has already saved me countless hours of work. The Note Tools popover is superb, as is the Jump Bar, the handling of slash regions, group dynamics…I could go on and on.

AN: Can you walk us through your creative process for large-scale works like Earth Symphony or Dreams of the Fallen? How did Dorico help streamline your workflow for such large-scale choral/orchestral works?

JR: First and foremost, I spend a long time selecting and studying the text the choir will sing — I find this to be one of the most significant parts of the process. The text informs everything I do, and so it’s crucial I know as much as I can before generating musical ideas. After that initial research and study, I improvise singing the words and playing the piano to identify motivic and harmonic material, which I capture with a voice memos app and with pencil and paper. I work through the entire piece in short-score, including orchestration ideas, and then all of that gets put into notation software where I beef-up the orchestration, edit, refine, etc. I find using note entry with a full-size MIDI keyboard to be lightning-fast, but when I’m on the road I use a 32-key controller that fits perfectly in my backpack. For large works like these, creating cues and condensing used to be a painful experience, but Dorico makes it effortless. I feel like I have much more control over my score while needing to make fewer manual adjustments. Also, the ability to have Custom Score Layouts to create a piano reduction for the piano/choral score (separate from the orchestral piano part) is a game-changer!

Excerpt of the “Dreams of the Fallen" manuscript.

AN: What upcoming projects or works are you most excited about, and how do you see Dorico playing a role in bringing them to life?

JR: Dorico will be by my side for many upcoming projects including a large-scale work for choir and wind ensemble, a 30-minute work for choir and chamber ensemble, and a new work for bluegrass band, strings, and choir, among others. Composing is hard work, but Dorico really helps to streamline the process of getting a great-looking score as quickly as possible. I’m so appreciative of the whole Dorico team for their brilliance and dedication to making this software so powerful and efficient.

AN: Thanks so much for sharing your journey and creative process with us, Jake. Congratulations again on your GRAMMY® nomination for A Dream So Bright—we’re wishing you the best of luck and can’t wait to see how your upcoming projects continue to inspire.

🎧 Listen to the album here