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John Van Geem (born 8 May, 1987) is an American composer and pianist. His composition style ranges from sweeping orchestra music to electronic rock, combining both classical and popular music styles. Van Geem is a classically trained composer, having graduated from the Chicago College of Performing Arts in Chicago, where he studied music composition under Daron Hagen and Kyong Mee Choi.

Van Geem composes, authors, and arranges music for Ballet, Opera, Digital Media, and Film. His composition style is best described as a synthesis of minimalism and Neoclassic Romanticism. Among performance achievements, his discography includes four Record Albums and several diverse singles.

Early Life and Education
Van Geem was born on May 8, 1987 in Mount Prospect, Illinois. He briefly received formal lessons, but could play music by ear at an early age and largely taught himself.

At age seventeen Van Geem composed his first orchestra piece after a high school music director discovered him improvising on the grand piano at school.

Van Geem premiered his first orchestra work “The Sage” in 2004. The piece was performed by the Prospect High School Orchestra and conducted by Van Geem.

Van Geem attended the Chicago College of Performing Arts from 2005 to 2009 where he studied Music Composition. He studied music composition and music theory under Kyong Mee Choi and Daron Hagen at the The Music Conservatory of Chicago College of Performing Arts.

Compositional Style
Van Geem’s compositional style is influenced in part by his fondness for sweeping movie scores from composers John Williams, Thomas Newman, and Hans Zimmer.

His time composing chamber and orchestra music at the Chicago College of Performing Arts shaped his style and provided the foundation for his broad compositional pallet.

Van Geem emphasizes counterpoints in melodies and layered harmonies that build orchestral momentum. His style is also defined by thematic compositional threads that weave throughout the movements.

Recordings
Van Geem made his professional debut composing the 2015 electronic album Orientation.

He wrote his second full-length album “The First Point of Aries” while living in Africa. The most popular track, “Imagine Africa”, was directly inspired by his experiences there. The record was a notable departure from orchestral music and remains his only contemporary Rock work.

Van Geem composed the music for 2019 American Comedy/Sci-fi film Mondo Hollywoodland. Van Geem’s recordings are available on his website and can be streamed on Apple Music and Spotify.

Ellipse Ballet
Van Geem composed Ellipse Ballet with the intent of writing a music piece that tells a story and sweeps listeners along with rich harmonies. Van Geem drew inspiration from the storytelling style of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Claude Debussy.

Van Geem wrote and published a book in 2020 inspired by the Ellipse Ballet. The prose rendition establishes a visceral journey, cascading readers into an epic parable for Father Time.

The ballet has been recorded by the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, and the Western New York Chamber Orchestra. The ballet is anticipated to premiere in 2024.

The ballet is composed of ten movements that can each be performed as an individual concert piece.

External links section
John Van Geem

Western New York Orchestra