John Hadden had a long association with the College of Music at the Florida State University, with twice- yearly residencies where in addition to making presentations to many classes on the art and business of recording classical music he advised the college on the purchase of equipment for recording the more than 350 concerts a year in the College’s various concert halls. One of his primary functions was to record advanced performance majors, giving them an opportunity to experience a professional recording environment while providing them with a recording of the highest quality. These sessions often involve extensive coaching in which he, in his role as recording producer, encouraged and guided performers towards fulfilling their artistic potential. He also trained the student staff who record College of Music concerts in classical music recording and editing techniques and made numerous CD recordings of College of Music faculty. Two recordings with the University Symphony Orchestra - three Zwilich piano concertos and Dohnányi’s Second Symphony - and a recording of contemporary American music by graduate student ensemble enhakē, released on Naxos, have received wide critical acclaim. Special projects included producing, engineering and editing the soundtrack for Buster Keaton’s film masterpiece The General, composed for full orchestra by Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beal and preformed by the university’s Philharmonia orchestra. This project was particularly challenging as the 75 minute score of continuous music had to be recorded and edited to remain synchronized to the action of the film. He also produced, engineered and edited music for the documentary Peanuts Gallery, which recounts through interviews and rarely-seen footage the friendship between cartoonist Charles M. Schultz and Pulitzer Prize- winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The program, which features a performance of Zwilich’s Peanuts Gallery for Piano and Orchestra, was distributed by PBS for broadcast throughout the US, awarded Best Performance Program 2007 by the National Educational Telecommunications Association and has received almost 700 telecasts over PBS stations to date.
Educational Activities
John Hadden had a long association with the College of Music at the Florida State University, with twice-yearly residencies where in addition to making presentations to many classes on the art and business of recording classical music he advised the college on the purchase of equipment for recording the more than 350 concerts a year in the College’s various concert halls. One of his primary functions was to record advanced performance majors, giving them an opportunity to experience a professional recording environment while providing them with a recording of the highest quality. These sessions often involve extensive coaching in which he, in his role as recording producer, encouraged and guided performers towards fulfilling their artistic potential. He also trained the student staff who record College of Music concerts in classical music recording and editing techniques and made numerous CD recordings of College of Music faculty. Two recordings with the University Symphony Orchestra - three Zwilich piano concertos and Dohnányi’s Second Symphony - and a recording of contemporary American music by graduate student ensemble enhakē, released on Naxos, have received wide critical acclaim. Special projects included producing, engineering and editing the soundtrack for Buster Keaton’s film masterpiece The General, composed for full orchestra by Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beal and preformed by the university’s Philharmonia orchestra. This project was particularly challenging as the 75 minute score of continuous music had to be recorded and edited to remain synchronized to the action of the film. He also produced, engineered and edited music for the documentary Peanuts Gallery, which recounts through interviews and rarely-seen footage the friendship between cartoonist Charles M. Schultz and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The program, which features a performance of Zwilich’s Peanuts Gallery for Piano and Orchestra, was distributed by PBS for broadcast throughout the US, awarded Best Performance Program 2007 by the National Educational Telecommunications Association and has received almost 700 telecasts over PBS stations to date.
Educational Activities
recording producer & engineer
JOHN HADDEN
recording producer & engineer
JOHN HADDEN