Jack Lenz

Jack Lenz is a Canadian Bahá'í composer. He has written, performed, and produced music for film, television, and theatre, [http://www.jacklenz.com/index.htm Official Website Bio ] ] along with working on non-soundtrack album ventures. [http://www.cherrylane.com/clpub/html/body_filmtvbio.cfm?wid=101337 Cherry Lane Music Publishing, Film and TV Composers, Jack Lenz] ] [http://www.socan.ca/jsp/en/news_events/news_archive/Lenz.jsp Socan, Archived News 2004, Jack Lenz] ] He is also the founder of Live Unity Enterprises, an organization devoted to the production of music for the Bahá'í community, and dramatic and musical resources to help promote its teachings. [http://www.liveunity.com/index.php?section=1 LiveUnity.com Official Website] ] For example, Lenz wrote the music for the "Expectation" opening music for the second Bahá'í World Congress in 1992 with an audience of tens of thousands of Bahá'ís from around the world. [http://www.sealsandcrofts.com/lyricsbc.html Music for the Second Bahá'í World Congress] ]

Lenz became well-known in the United States after working on the score for Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ". Among his current projects is working on a movie about the persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran, particularly the story of Mona Mahmudnizhad who suffered under the persecution in Iran [http://www.americandaughter.com/arch_20050527mona.html Mona's Message] ] , under the title of "Mona's Dream". [ [http://www.monasdream.com/ Mona's Dream] ] [Note Mona Mahmudnizhad's story is also the subject of other art works: music artist Doug Cameron's popular song [http://www.sealsandcrofts.com/sealscrofts5.html "Mona with the Children"] which made the top of the pop charts (#14 for the week of October 19, 1985) according to "Pop Annual 1955-1999: Sixth Edition" [http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Charts/1985/Ch198510.html#1504 "Pop Annual 1955-1999: Sixth Edition" for October, 1985] and as a play [http://www.adressformona.org/storyofmona/storyofmona1.htm "A Dress for Mona"] .]

Background

Jack Lenz was born in Eston, Saskatchewan. His mother was also raised in Saskatchewan, and his father came to Canada from Hungary during the Depression. Still in his youth Lenz took piano lessons from Garth Beckett and later studied composition at the University of Saskatchewan. [http://www.millenniumartssociety.org/lenz.htm Millennnium Arts Society] - Jack Lenz in conversation with Joseph Lerner] Lenz became a professional musician when he played keyboards and flute for the soft-rock bands Seals and Crofts and Loggins and Messina touring around the world, performing before large audiences, and recording. [http://www.ca.bahai.org/main.cfm?sid=81 Bahá'í Community of Canada, Canadian Bahá'ís > In the News > Jack Lenz] ] Lenz' involvement in children's issues stems partly from having seven children of his own, as well as being an arena which avoids "the conflict between what I believe about music and its sacred nature and dealing with what a lot of programing deals with, which sometimes could be the worst aspects of human nature." Lenz joined the Bahá'í Faith in 1969.

Programs

Lenz has done music production work for over 100 programs for various categories of mass media including television series and information/news programming, feature films, movies of the week, documentaries, live to broadcast, and children's television productions for networks like the CBC, NBC, Nickelodeon, PAX TV, Discovery Channel, Scholastic-HBO, Showtime, and Nelvana / CBS as well as theatrical works. [http://www.olemm.com/ole%20News.php?bioid=53 ole Expands Agreement with Jack Lenz and Lenz Entertainment] ] [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0502338/ IMBD Entry] ] [http://www.jacklenz.com/credits.htm Jack Lenz Credits] ] [http://www.beevision.com/JAB/jack.shtml James Beveridge, Film Guru, Jack Lenz] ]
*"Little Mosque on the Prairie" (2007)
*"Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye" (12 episodes, 2003-2005)
*"The Passion of the Christ" (2004)
*Goosebumps
*Due South (All Series)
*
* 13 years of the "Hospital for Sick Children's" Telethon
* 7 years of YTV's "Youth Achievement Awards"
* musical direction of "A tribute to renowned author, Mordecai Richler"
* more than twenty separate television productions back to 1983.
* Doc, a small town Montana pysician, Dr. Clint Cassidy, who moves to the Big Apple in a Toronto based series starring Billy Ray Cyrus. Excellent family oriented drama in a contemporay style of the Waltons and Little House on the Prairie.

Awards

Nominated for several Gemini Awards:
* Best Original Music Score for a Series for:"Due South", episode "Free Willie". (1995)
* Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series for: "Due South", episode "The Gift of the Wheelman". (1996)
* Best Pre-School Program or Series for: "Nanalan'" (2003) (Executive Producer and Music Director)

Winner of several SOCAN Awards
*14th Annual SOCAN Awards 2003 [ [http://www.socan.ca/jsp/en/about/media_centre/TO_14thAnnualWinList.jsp 14th SOCAN Awards] ]
** Domestic Non-Animated Television Series Music Award
** International Television Series Music Award
** News & Sports Television Programming Music Award
*16th Annual SOCAN Awards 2005 [ [http://www.socan.ca/jsp/en/about/media_centre/TO_16thAnnualWinList.jsp 16th Annual SOCAN Awards] ]
**Domestic Non-Animated Television Series Music Award

Albums or songs on albums

* "Andrea" by Andrea Bocelli (2004) ("Go Where Love Goes")
* Musical Director of the Inauguration of the Bahá'í Terraces on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, (2001)
* "Music from the Second Bahá'í World Congress" (1992, released 1994) (4 of 16 songs), commissioned by the Universal House of Justice
** "Expectation" (words from the scriptures of Zoroaster, Moses, Isaiah, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad. Music by Jack Lenz)
** "See the Light" [http://www.sealsandcrofts.com/lyricsbc.html Also appeared in the episode All the Queen's Horses in the Canadian series "Due South," in April, 1996] ]
** "Glad Tidings"
** "Garden of Ridván".
* "Jewel in the Lotus" (1987) [ [http://www.sealsandcrofts.com/lyricsj.html Jewel in the Lotus] ] (4 of 10 songs)
* "We Are Baha'is" (1982) [ [http://www.divinenotes.com/albums/WeAreBahais/D4331877-A52A-1EBF-834B-EB0A19BAF3E3 Divine Notes - We Are Baha'is, Album Details] ]
* Lenz also produced an 6 hr talk on "Music and The Arts - The Oneness of Humankind", a spiritual journey explaining the origin of the various art forms and its important necessity in our lives. [ [http://www.gemstonedistribution.com/Arts.html "Music and The Arts - The Oneness of Humankind"] ]
* Lenz performed flute on 1977's Loggins and Messina Finale (album).

Artists

Lenz has done production work for various artists including Ravi Shankar, Paul Gross, David Keeley, Doug Cameron, as well as Adam Crossley, Holly Stell, The Crawling Kingsnakes and Ava Bowers. [ [http://www.lenzent.com/am.htm Lenz Entertainment Artist Management] ] [ [http://www.bahaibookstore.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=6891 "Ava: Turning Point"] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.jacklenz.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0502338/ IMDb Link]
* [http://www.millenniumartssociety.org/lenz.htm Millennnium Arts Society] - Jack Lenz in conversation with Joseph Lerner
* [http://www.monasdream.com/ Mona's Dream]