Rebecca Jolley, MA, composer

Born in 1951, Rebecca Jolley is a composer whose creative work began in a later season of life, bringing a mature artistic voice and a lifelong engagement with the arts to her music. A longtime music lover with a master’s degree in creative writing, Rebecca began playing the piano 9 years ago and was fortunate to take instruction at the studio of Luisa Matthynssens, a seasoned teacher, performer and composer.  As their piano lessons gradually turned toward composition and theory, Rebecca discovered the joy of creating original music. Now approaching the age of 75, she describes herself as “living proof that it is never too late to develop your capabilities and creativity,” and she hopes to inspire others to do so.

The Austin connection, a theme that runs through Scrabble the Opera, was forged in the early 1970’s when Rebecca was a graduate student at the University of Texas and later worked for the University Press. The Austin music scene of the time was amazingly rich and varied; country, classical, reggae, boogie, mariachi, rock, jazz, blues, punk, folk, R & B, and more, mingled and cross-pollinated. She wanted to reflect the fun and delight of that effervescent musical cocktail in Scrabble the Opera.

Musical Examples

“It takes a very long time to become young.”
-Pablo Picasso