REVELATION
J. A. J. Sedarski
Published by SedarskiMusic (ASCAP)
Duration ca. 5:3O min Copyright © 2025 J. A. J. Sedarski/ SedarskiMusic/ ASCAP
Text
I saw a new heaven and a new earth
And I heard a loud voice from heaven, “Behold, all pain, all death, gone! I saw all tears wiped away I saw sorrow filled with joy. I saw love.
With my own eyes and my own senses. I saw a new heaven, a new earth.
Program Note
Revelation began during a time of deep isolation. In the heart of the pandemic, when choirs couldn’t sing together, my director gave us a challenge: create music in any way we could. As a composer, I naturally turned to writing—but I was anxious. Who wasn’t?
I found myself drawn to Revelation 21: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” That vision—a world made new—offered a message of hope that felt incredibly poignant. It spoke directly to the grief and uncertainty we were all carrying.
The first version of this piece didn’t land the way I hoped. I presented it to my class, and I could tell it didn’t resonate. But the seed was planted. A few years later, I returned to the music, stripping the text down to its core truths. What remained was not a setting of scripture, but a personal witnessing—a vision of sorrow transformed into love.
“Showing a deeper understanding of harmony” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) J. A. J. Sedarski (b. 2000) is a composer whose music blends bold, dramatic gestures with moments of striking intimacy. Drawing inspiration from his Mexican heritage, real-life events, and the natural world, his work resonates with personal depth and expressive range.
Sedarski began composing at 14, sparked by a dusty family piano tucked in the corner of his home. By 15, he earned his first credit writing incidental music for a production of The Vagina Monologues at the Rochester Civic Center. At 19, he received his first commission from the Boston-based Juventas New Music Ensemble—an artistic relationship that continues to this day and includes three concert hall world premieres.
His music has been performed by the MIVOS Quartet, Argento Reading Ensemble, Boston University Symphony Orchestra, Boston University Chamber Orchestra, ALLEA III, Sound Icon, and Juventas New Music Ensemble. He has studied under composers Rodney Lister, Joshua Fineberg, and John Wallace.
In his first year at Boston University, he won the 2020 Composition Competition for Variants for Orchestra. In 2022, he received an achievement award from Luke Hill’s composition studio for Gradus ad Paradisum, was named a 2021 finalist for the American Prize for Behind the Universe, and a 2022 finalist for the American Prize for Between Our Breaths We Sing. In 2023, he debuted his first monodrama, Sentience, inspired by contemporary developments in A.I., at Boston University’s School of Music. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Theory and Composition from Boston University College of Fine Arts.
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