Jeannine Wagar
Multi-talented artist, Jeannine Wagar has been at the forefront of contemporary classical music for almost half a century. Learn what makes her tick.
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Into the Night is now available on CD and in digital formats from:
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Jeannine Wagar: A life steeped in music, Wagar makes her composer debut with ‘Into the Night.’
– Northwest Arkansas Democrat Citizen, 6/15/25
“At over 70 years of age, Jeannine Wagar discovers composition for herself – and delivers a fascinating debut between light and shadow.
Sometimes a great journey begins precisely where others would retreat: in their seventh decade. For Jeannine Wagar, "Into the Night" isn't a belated career leap, but rather a radical statement: After decades of experience as an international conductor, she dares to step into her own dream world—and it sounds incredibly vivid.
Her debut album is far more than just a mere play with sample libraries and virtual instruments. With a precise hand and an open heart, Wagar shapes music that moves between ambient, new music, and cinematic soundscapes. At times fragile, at times expansive, at times with a drama that only an experienced conductor can imbue into sounds.
The nine pieces resemble a nighttime stroll through an inner universe: fleeting emotions, floating harmonies, a quiet rebellion – all embedded in a sound that, despite its digital nature, never seems artificial. This is due in no small part to Wagar's ability to interweave classical sound concepts with electronic possibilities.
The transitions between orchestral intimacy and spherical drift are so natural that you almost forget that there are no real musicians playing. And that's where things get exciting: In this virtual orchestral space, decades of live experience meet the freedom of digitality – and Wagar uses both masterfully.
"Into the Night" is not only a personal meditation on time, darkness, and consciousness, but also a musical plea for the infinity of creative curiosity. Anyone who calls this a mellow age hasn't understood anything – this is avant-garde with an age bonus.”
“In this case we get an album that exist somewhere inside the triangle of neo-classical music, ambient music and cosmic, electronic music. With occasional subtle similarities to a band like Tangerine Dream, although in this case those aren't really defining of the landscapes explored in any substantial manner.
Cosmic, otherworldly and often futuristic sounding moods and atmospheres is a staple here though, created by way of either a more constant synthesizer presence of some variety or other or by a combination of the sounds and effects used. The more defining feature of these compositions are the use of string instrument textures and orchestra textures though, with fluctuating and surging patterns of these being a mainstay and dominant element throughout. In most cases with the movements of these, at least to my ears, drawing in impulses from classical symphonic music more often than not.
As a composer Wagar appear to enjoy exploring the natural tension that comes when applying light toned and darker toned textures, with the string textures in particular providing much of the former here, and to further add ear candy to these creations with get a wide array of electronic effects of different varieties, and then mainly used in a more subtle manner. Slight chaotic intrusions being one of the forms explored on a few occasions.
We also get some instances of more clear cut and dominant expansions of the core traits here that adds another dimension to the compositions. This specific detail being the use of a digital choir, and the result of this being present is to add a more ethereal and sacral feel to the compositions in question. And adding a bit of an emphasis to the perception of these landscapes perhaps being created with more of an otherworldly mood and atmosphere in mind rather than a cosmic one. That being said, I suspect the majority of people who give this album a listen will hone in more on the cosmic association than the otherworldly even if both are very much applicable.
Conclusion.
While not an album that can be categorized within the progressive music tradition as such, the manner in which the artist combines aspects of ambient music, electronic music and classical music on this production results in a tasteful and elegant foray into the realm of cosmic music, and those with an affection for landscapes of this variety that adds a few additional elements and dimensions to what might be described as an ambient electronic music foundation might find this album to be quite the immersive experience.”
Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, June 2025
“These nine conservative but ingenious electronics pieces are the first venture into composing by Arkansas-based musician Jeannine Wagar, but she brings a wealth of experience to the task… Like a skilled cook, Wagar has carefully concocted the ingredients that go into each piece, lending them individual flavors even though the overall method remains uniform—one could easily listen to all nine tracks as a single lyrical flow.”
– Fanfare Magazine, July 2025
"The Into the Night album displays a range of expertly arranged and composed pieces of music that each deep into different moods, cinematic aesthetics, and in almost ethereal flow.
The record ranges in unique and well-rounded digital instrumentation she's utilizing to create soundscapes that are not only alluring but all their own.
With each track, she posed you further into her world and her mind's creations, but each song also delivers a little piece of herself.
... she has built something that feels alive and breathing.
It's amazing how she's able to put all this stuff together, and you can tell that she honestly must have had a great time experimenting and writing these pieces.
They're all coming from someplace real, and she's able to express herself in a very unique manner by putting this record together.
Songs like "Lament" feel incredibly authentic and maybe even cathartic.
The album as a whole gives you a sense of vulnerability in a strange way but it's something that I attached myself to while listening.
I'm sure you will enjoy this. It will take you away from wherever you are and whatever you're doing and put you in her world for a certain amount of time."
— Recording Artists Guild, June 2025
With Into the Night Jeannine Wagar makes a good case for the power of imagination. While this composer’s musical ideas are intriguing, what makes this work so engaging is the evident care taken in the realization of its nine tracks.
Thoughtful, yet charged with light, life, movement and motion, these compositions work through a range of approaches. Carefully crafted tone combinations slowly form consonant sonorities, which may eventually be resolved, or linger for atmospheric effect.
Synth structured, string saturated soundscapes conjure an ethereal beauty. Spaced, sustained notes blur the line between their beginning and end points – working to support fleeting melodic phrases and abstract electronics.
The tempo is variable, often maintaining a slow sense of becoming – then into passages of gentle activity. This collection seems not only to recognize the human side of the Ambient genre, but also honors the fundamentals of music theory.
In this spacey sonic expression, Wagar’s electronic realizations connect better with listeners looking for music with meaning, than with an audience seeking mindless neutrality. Into the Night asks us to consider the most sublime implications of sound. From within its understated drama, its inward turning dreamscapes offer ideas and emotions, impressions and atmosphere.
Repeated listening rewards with the uncovering of compositional detail and subtle effect. We find ourselves on a journey, which in taking us far from daily life, may in time return us to ourselves – refreshed and renewed.
— Star’s End, July, 2025
Ms. Wagar, your album has touched me in ways I almost can't describe. In the middle of "Into the Night," I found myself transported to a wonderful place of peace. The other selections evoked places of my past and thoughts not experienced previously. No music has ever done that to me. What a revelation. Well done and thank you so much. All I can say is WOW!
— John Matthews
I randomly pick one of the seven recent CDs. Into The Night is Jeannine Wagar's first foray into the realm of the virtual orchestra. The Arkansas-based composer, conductor, pianist, and organist has worked with orchestras like Bang On A Can (the only one I know of from her pedigree). Her music instantly captivates me, perhaps because it resembles things I've loved recording for commissioned projects, such as when I was musical director of the Soirées des Rencontres d'Arles. The instruments we use, their physical approach—because mechanics obey human reflexes—inevitably influence what we play. Confronted with herself, rather than instrumentalists as she is used to, Jeannine Wagar evokes an emotional approach, as if she were moving from light to darkness, from day to night. The virtual orchestra does indeed take us back to the fog of the unconscious, as when we compose for others, but this extroversion becomes trivial in contact with reality.
After decades spent translating the intent of others as an international orchestral conductor, pipe organist, and jazz pianist, Jeannine Wagar steps forward as a composer with her debut album, Into the Night. Released in her seventh decade, this is not a retirement project but a radical, late-career exploration into her own “dream world,” utilizing sampled acoustic instruments, chorus, and electronics to craft an extremely smooth and relaxing ambient category all its own. The album serves as a fascinating statement on creativity and freedom, showing an artist unbound by the practical logistics of a live orchestra, instead shaping her music with the precise hand and emotional depth only an experienced conductor could achieve. The result is a sound that moves gracefully between classical intimacy and spherical drift, proving that decades of live experience can meet the limitless possibilities of digital composition to deliver something truly fresh.
The journey through Into the Night is best understood as a nocturnal soundscape, divided into distinct phases of ambience. The album’s rhythmic spine is provided by the tracks “Into the Night” and its mirror, “So, Fly Sky High,” which feature a gentle, percolating rhythm that establishes a feeling of slow, boat-floating movement. This pulse is counterbalanced by a serene, pastoral warmth in “Over Here” and “Motion,” where sweeping strings intermingle with the distinct, calming sound of rocks shifting in a stream, creating a highly evocative and natural setting. Tracks like “Clarity” and “Easy Does It” introduce a melodic core, allowing strings to swell beautifully against an underlying, deep pulse, providing moments of focused, meditative calm within the broader electronic wash.
Wagar closes her debut with tracks that dive deeper into emotional sparseness. “Lament” and “I Cry Too” shift the palette toward pure, held tones, creating an atmosphere of sparse ambience that is introspective and vulnerable. This dramatic contrast with the earlier rhythmic pieces reveals the album’s strength: its ability to navigate a wide emotional spectrum while maintaining a cohesive, relaxing texture. Into the Night is far more than background music; it is a personal meditation on time, consciousness, and the physics of sound. It successfully interweaves classical sound concepts with electronic freedom, standing as a testament to the infinity of creative curiosity and delivering a deeply vivid, highly refined listening experience.