“The concert hall’s best hour was the evening’s highlight: The première of the first symphony by the young American Jason Haney. The two-movement, very complex work thrives on the interaction between the opulent percussion section and the orchestra, and [conductor Jan] Horstmann filled the whole length of the concert hall with drums and bells. The first movement of this symphony seemed a bit ambivalent, but the second part compensated with a patchwork of powerful harmonies in an impressively monolithic cascade. Heavy, but very impressive stuff that the audience greeted with thunderous applause and calls of ‘bravo.'” —Freiberg News
“Bright Mesas, Deep Shadows… shows an adroitness in using a chamber -sized group of musicians (16) to mimic a full-sized one. At the same time, Haney manages to make individual instruments in his little orchestra distinguishable and noticable, one from the others… it comes to involve a listener as it unfolds… I was sold on the composer’s abilities to write music worth listening to.” —Bloomington Herald-Times
“Haney’s Refractions, based on the German carol Es Ist Ein Ros, was played by Alison d’Amato (Cleveland Institute). It contrasted agitated rhythms and ringing sonorities with an affecting meditative meltdown.” —Halifax Chronicle-Herald
“A première by Jason Haney, called t-zero, had [Henry] Grabb playing some of the richest sonorities I have heard on the English horn. The work, a duet for the English horn and clarinet, is a delightful exploration of interval relationships and the relationship of this unusual instrumental combination. Initially, the instruments sound as if they are tuning up, with copycat repetitions on single notes. Thankfully, the interplay gets more intense, with stirring wind-like passages and wild leaps. It ultimately returns to simplicity and a charmingly conventional harmonic close.” —New York Concert Review
“Haney’s composition, Idle Hands, was played by three performers, using three piano benches and an assortment of hands. He juxtaposed the serious with the humorous, providing entertainment for both ears and eyes.” —Staunton News-Leader