bio

Joseph Weisnewski is a creative, vital member of the Seattle music community as well as a respected composer and educator. Over the last 30 years he has composed for orchestra, chamber groups, choral ensembles, ballet and theater, including six years as composer and musical director for the Idaho Shakespeare Festival.

Weisnewski prides himself on the broad range of outlets for his creativity. He has composed a blues musical based on William Shakespeare's play Othello, performed and written for a satirical, socially conscious band called Patriot Act, and recently acted in Lucas Smiraldo's Voice of the Americas. Composition remains Weisnewski's first love. He has developed a technique of composition called Macro-Micro in which small motifs are expanded to define the entire form of a composition.

Weisnewski credits his musical diversity to both his education and experience. Born in 1947, he traveled extensively in his youth due to his father's military career. He began formal music lessons at the age of ten, studying the violin. He then moved on to play electric bass and guitar in rock bands during the 1960's. He attended Palomar College in San Marcos, California where he studied music theory under Howard Brubeck, then continued his musical education at San Francisco State College and classical guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory. Upon leaving school, he continued working privately with composers including Robin Maconie and Sir Lennox Berkeley.

Studying under these talented masters gave Weisnewski a love for learning and teaching. A certified Montessorian and a gifted teacher, he brings music to life for more than 500 students a week in their classrooms. He regularly conducts workshops at local, regional and national conferences for professional educators..

Joseph lives with his wife Mary in the Puget Sound region of Washington State.