The future looks extraordinarily bright for Justin Kinchen, a 2024 honors graduate from the Frost School of Music working toward master’s degrees in violin performance and studio jazz writing. And as Kinchen showed at his recent concert “Limelight: A Conversation in Sound,” there’s plenty to like about his musical present, too.
The show took place March 9 at Butler University’s Schrott Center for the Arts in Kinchen’s hometown of Indianapolis, supported by the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, a jazz combo and many of Kinchen’s teachers, mentors and Frost School classmates as guest artists. And while the show’s primary purpose was artistic, Kinchen’s chosen location was also a driver.
“I never stop creating, so the main impetus for this was making more art,” he said afterward. “I wanted to share my music on a large scale, just do it all in one place with many people I care about. I wanted to do it there to pay tribute to people who helped me up.”
In addition to playing his two main instruments, jazz trumpet and classical violin, Kinchen played piano and sang (his first time ever singing onstage, as well as with an orchestra). To top it all off, the show’s repertoire drew from original compositions on two Kinchen albums, “Out at Sea” and “Yours Truly.” The show drew an enthusiastic, near-capacity crowd to the 475-seat Schrott Center, with repeated standing ovations.
“I would say the main emotion I had onstage was just joy,” Kinchen said. “At other concerts, it’s easy to feel stressed. But since the music for this one was all my originals, I was able to let loose – you know, I know who wrote the pieces! Honestly, it was so powerful hearing a full orchestra behind me playing music I’d only heard on the computer. It's very empowering to have that wall of sound behind me. It was a culminating experience, getting to share this stockpile of music I’ve composed.”
Kinchen has always been a skilled multitasker. He began his musical life with violin at age 4. A few years later, he added trumpet and piano and was composing music by middle school. Also starting in middle school, he played basketball and soccer, ran cross-country, and captained the high school track team. Mark Buselli, who was one of Kinchen’s key early trumpet teachers, always wondered when he ever slept.
“Before he came to me, I never even knew he played trumpet,” said Buselli, who was among the guest artists on the “Limelight” concert. “He and my daughter played violin together in some all-state youth orchestra. The range of stuff he does is insane – did he ever play a video game? But the show was amazing. He already has so much depth in his music for someone so young. He really handles himself with poise.”
The “Limelight” concert was underwritten by the Indianapolis chapter of The Links, Incorporated, a longtime non-profit volunteer organization of Black professional women that supports Black culture, civic life, and economic development. Kinchen himself played a key organizational role. In addition to composing the program’s music and arranging guest artists’ participation, he even did some stage-plot design. Kinchen credits his status as a Fellow in the Frost School’s Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra as valuable training for logistics and music.
“I played with the Mancini Orchestra for a couple of years as a substitute to get that sound into my ear,” said Kinchen. “Now that I’m a Fellow and can write, I’m set up in a good position to understand how to navigate the ensemble. And being at the Frost School connects me with really good musicians to help bring things to life.”
Kinchen plans to release a live recording of the “Limelight” concert this summer, and he’s on course to complete his Frost School graduate work to earn his double master’s degree in 2027. After that, his next move will be to California to study film scoring, ideally at the University of Southern California. He plans to compose movie soundtracks and continue recording and touring with his own music. And that’s not his only goal, either.
“I also hope to win a Grammy Award by 2027,” Kinchen said. “Yeah, my goal is to be a 25-year-old with a Grammy.”
Don’t bet against him.
