Hi, and thank you for visiting my website. I hope you will find some interesting things here.

I am a Texas native and country-boy at heart who now resides in Long Island City, NY. And despite having grown up as a hunter (and as the son of a man who was a director of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo who would bring home an entire steer each year to keep in our freezer for meals!) I am now largely vegetarian, eating a whole-foods plant-based diet, for the benefit of my health which took a few dings when I served as a US Marine scout-sniper in Iraq - including a mild case of TBI. How is that for a change? In another twist, during the war I became friends with many local Iraqis, including several musicians and artists with whom I now collaborate, and studied the 'ud with Ali-Hussein Jabir in Wasit Province, which is south and east of Baghdad. I am proud of these things. The focus of my work is currently on a project that tells my Iraqi story through music and words, because it is a story that needs to be heard, though I am still busy teaching, playing formal concerts of new music and classical music, as well as performing at numerous weddings, corporate events, and other types of parties.  

My music and poetry has been the subject of the book Sound Targets by Jon Pieslak; I've been featured on the WNYC radio program SoundCheck; and have performed at many major venues including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Elebash Hall, and many universities. My music has been performed across the US by the ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, the Second Instrumental Unit, the Cygnus Ensemble, and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra's String Quartet. Additionally, I've had invitations to perform in Mexico and Russia, which I am hoping to schedule soon, and I have performed as a soloist at the Princeton Festival, the Van Der Stucken Festival, and recently performed at the Warebrook New Music Festival as a member of the ensemble-in-residence, Bodies Electric - an electric guitar quartet.

I was also recently featured as a performer and composer on the acclaimed "Concerts and Conversations" series in NY at the Graduate Center with Alex Ross moderating who noted "I'm fascinated by your story and your music, and very moved, I think, by the layers of meaning ...its really quite amazing."

I've premiered a few works for guitar including an arrangement of Babbitt's Danci for three hands on one guitar with William Anderson, works by Frank Brickle, William Anderson, and James Walsh, among others. I also occasionally conduct, making my debut as a conductor at Carnegie Hall in December of 2005. I am currently the conductor and director of the New York City Classical Guitar Society's Guitar Orchestra,and own my own music school in Long Island City in Queens, NY.

I am published by EarthSongs Music; am currently writing a book about my experiences in Iraq; and am on the faculty of the City University of New York. I earned my Master's Degree in Composition from the Aaron Copland School of Music, CUNY; and a Bachelor's of Music, magna cum laude, from Loyola University New Orleans, a city that I miss very much. I am indebted to my principal teachers: William Anderson and Stuart LeBlanc on guitar; James Walsh, Jeff Nichols, and Bruce Saylor in composition. Thank you, gentlemen.

Please have a look around my website, and feel free to contact me anytime. I will look forward to making your acquaintance, to performing or composing for you, or to mentoring you as a student of mine - I hope to learn as much from you, as you will from me, and to bring much great music into your life.

©2012 Jason Sagebiel.

I made this myself, however, ink, paper and live sound are still way better than this electonic media - let's preferably interface in real time!