J.Jay's Music

Original Compositions
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J.Jay Berthume

J.Jay attended Furman University for a BA in music composition and a minor in jazz piano. His studies included jazz (solo, combo, and performing piano in the Furman University Large Jazz Ensemble), ethnomusicology, music technology, baroque and renaissance counterpoint, classical piano instruction, orchestration, classical and contemporary harmony, and form & analysis. He was music director of The Bell Tower Boys for two semesters, was awarded the Mattie Hip Cunningham Scholarship for the most promising rising senior, was inducted into the Phi Eta Sigma honorary music society, and was awarded Best Freshman Essay for his essay “The Morality of Music.”

Before attending Furman, he wrote over five hours of music which included projects such as Seven Days to Die, World War Tanks, Super Squares, Can You See the Stars, and Heir. His concert works have been performed by the Appalachian Wind Symphony, the Furman Symphony Orchestra, the Furman Percussion Ensemble, Buncombe Street Methodist and Earle Street Baptist churches, and The Twelve Peers.

Based in Greenville, SC, J.Jay currently writes music for video games and the concert hall. He recently finished composing a musical for the Misfit Theatre Company and is working on an original jazz album with percussionist Brett Ensley. He maintains a music composition YouTube channel of 17,000 subscribers, teaches privately online, and co-hosts a musical podcast called Keycast with Louie Taylor.

An avid lover of video games and anime since his early childhood, he is ensconced in the video game industry as both a consumer and a creator.