Welcome to Jason Jestadt, Director of Music!

We are pleased to welcome Jason Jestadt to Port Hope United Church as our new Director of Music. Jason brings with him excitement, enthusiasm, and an eclectic mix of musical styles, ranging from classical to jazz to contemporary popular music. Under Jason's guidance, we look forward to our continued journey of spiritual growth through music ministry and worship.

Please read further to learn more about Jason's accomplishments:

Jason Jestadt, (B Mus, McGill University 1999, M Mus, McGill University 2001, M Mus (Composition for Film), Royal College of Music 2002) is a Canadian composer who has been frequently commissioned and has written works in several genres: chamber music, music-theatre, electroacoustic music, music for film, and compositions for large ensemble such as orchestra and choir. At McGill he studied under composers Brian Cherney, John Rea and Alcides Lanza. While at the Royal College of Music he worked under the direction of film composers Patrick Doyle (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and Gabriel Yared (The Talented Mr. Ripley). During this time, excerpts from his film scores were selected and screened at the Internationale Filmmusik Biennale in Bonn Germany. In 2003, Jason received the Joseph Horowitz Award for Film Composition from the Royal College of Music.

Jason’s choral compositions have been premiered by the Elmer Iseler Singers (Carol for the Night Sky) the Amadeus Choir (Chorale, Iesous Ahatonnia, Aagiuuk), and the Vancouver Chamber Choir (Requiem, 2005). Jason has also been interested in combining music and film in concert settings. In 2004 he composed and conducted a new string quartet score to accompany the Erich Von Stroheim silent film Foolish Wives (1922) for Cinematheque Ontario. He later composed and conducted music for F.W. Murnau’s Faust and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in London.

In 2008, Jason was commissioned by the Shaw Festival to re-orchestrate Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music for a chamber ensemble of five instruments. He has also composed incidental music for various theatre productions at the Shaw Festival including The Royal Family (2003), and Something on the Side (2005). Alongside his work as a composer, Jason has also been active as a jazz pianist and music director. Most recently, he was associate conductor for the world premiere theatrical production of Lord of the Rings, and music director for the Queen musical We Will Rock You in Toronto. In 2009, Jason orchestrated and conducted music for Heart and Vision, a gala concert honouring the life’s work of film director Norman Jewison. He has also been a church music director for both Birchcliff Bluffs United Church (2004-2006) and Pathways Church (2007-2010).