I am a firm believer in the Creative Call. Along with a long history of being a performer of many arts: drumming--marching band to jazz band to a trash can band, tumbling and acrobatics--film stunts to circus arts, acting--theatre to film, dance--hip hop to ballet, I am highly encouraged by the story of how world-renown choreographer Gillian Lynne became who she was. As told by Dr. Ken Robinson in one of his TED-Talks, Gillian was thought to be "sick" as a child. Long story short, a specialist (doctor) eventually told Gillian's parents that Gillian wasn't "sick" she was a dancer! We each have a specific call wired into our DNA. It is our choice to follow that call. For me, the creative call is extremely strong. As I age beyond my performance years, I step into my creation years where all of these performance elements converge in at least one specific production I am working on called "Legend City - A New Musical". Legend City is an amalgamation of all of my artistic passions: dance, drumming, tumbling, acting, singing, music. It is a metatheatrical show about being creative and being human. Told from the perspective of Chance, the narrator who is writing the story, a world unfolds wherein Chance (our hero) is also a character with great creativity. This triple-layered production cross-pollinates the usual theatrical triple threat (singing, acting, dancing) with drum corps style percussion and Cirque du Soleil style tumbling in a show about talented dancers struggling with a lack of funds for their annual benefit concert. As the premise of the story's resolution suggests, I hope to instill in the minds and hearts of others a faith about the gifts they've been given and an urgency to pursue them for the impact they will have on others (as well as themselves) when they are fully operating in their unique design. The show is intended to be a full-length stage show utilizing video projection for various aspects. However, we are also intending a film version of the show that will further expose the show's metatheatrical nature. Lastly, Legend City was awarded the first alternate for both the National Partners of American Theatre award and the David L. Shelton award at the 2020 Region IV Kennedy Center for the Arts Collegiate Theatre Festival. All of the DEMO music from the show can be heard here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s8z2m8sobuz1x9x/AADmdHnDmjldF3MJ7qOvSJbpa?dl=0 Our Facebook page has an extensive history of photos from readings, video shoots, consultations with professionals, and more: https://www.facebook.com/LegendCityTheMusical/photos/?ref=page_internal A few of our single-song performance videos can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/504018796317270/videos/1731479323646647 https://youtu.be/HRkBnmt4giE?t=17 More about me as an artist/composer can be found at my website link below. Thank you.

My name is Justin Rayna. I have been gifted with a highly creative mind. Problems are not problems for me; they are opportunities for character development. Obstacles are not inconveniences; they are puzzles to be solved in more than one way. In turn, these puzzles and puzzle pieces reassemble and rearrange, creating new environments and solutions. Stress is not bad; it is the pressure that creates just enough tension to squeeze out a new approach, concept, or perspective on any situation. I am primarily a composer, but I am also an instrumentalist, a dancer, an actor, an acrobat, a writer, a production designer, a husband, and a father! I have honed these skills over years of practice. Each step of the way, I thought I would become only one of these things. However, I now see that what I have become requires the knowledge and inclusion of all of these elements. I am a creator. I do not write music to be only heard. I do not dance only to perform another choreographer's work. I do no write to be only read. Rather, I infuse each of these elements with several, if not all, of the others to create, from scratch, full-blown productions with tremendous impact, navigating obstacles of one element with solutions from another. I hope to reach a point in my career where my daily tasks involve utilizing the creative mind I have been given along with my complementary talents to create, create, create, and impact. I desire to take care of my family financially while being faithful to the gifts God has given me. I have been preparing myself for my dream career by diligently training and practicing these skills daily. I have also sought out an education in each of these areas, starting with music composition. I studied music theory and composition at the University of Tennessee from 2009 to 2012. From 2012 to 2017 I participated in the filming of over 30 movies, learning film-set etiquette and protocol, even performing stunts for one of them (with my gymnastics background). From 2012 to 2019 I also applied my compositional knowledge to the creation of a full-length musical and a concert spectacle wherein I also integrated my 20 years of gymnastics coaching (2000-present) knowledge to the design of each show. Throughout my years of coaching, I have trained myself (in many ways I am an autodidact) to tumble and do acrobatics with dance partners. I spent 10 years taking lessons in a dance studio for multiple styles of dance: jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop. I have taken drum lessons since eighth grade, and even after graduation (2000), I continued my percussive education by marching with Drum Corps International. I am currently completing my Bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with Concentrations in Music and Theatre from East Tennessee State University. Simultaneously, I am investing in an online course for audio engineering and music entrepreneurship to increase my music's technical production quality and learn how to market myself in this new technological and social media age. And lastly, I am enrolling in Regent University's MFA program for film and television with a concentration in script and screenwriting. I believe Regent's MFA program is the next step in training myself to be a highly valuable asset on the market in the entertainment industry, an asset with a unique contemporary compositional voice and an extremely well-rounded knowledge, supported by personal experience, of all performing arts. Even the writing of this essay is a step in preparing myself for my future achievements as this scholarship award will help make my continued education and further industry networking possible.

It was summer 2009. I was finishing up a contract at Dollywood as an acrobat in the premier season of Dolly Parton's new show Sha-Kon-O-Hey! I was on the short contract for the run because I had recently been accepted to the University of Tennessee for music, meaning my performance days would be over in august so I could go to school, even though the show ran through October. Originally, I wasn't sure which music studio I would commit to. I wanted to develop piano performance and become the next Yanni, or John Tesh. I wanted to hone my drumming skills and be a studio drum set player. I wanted to write music and be able to having performing ensemble play it. I didn't know which one to choose. First up was my audition for the concert band. I nailed it, no problem; I had been playing in concert band all throughout high school. Then began the interviews. I met with the head of the jazz program, playing a little drum set for him; it seemed like a good fit for the moment. I auditioned for the piano studio, playing one of my original songs for the proctor. That was less flattering; I wasn't strong enough technically or proficient enough at reading for the piano studio. So that was off the table. And finally, was my interview with the percussion studio. The director seemed to resemble an older version of myself, not only because he was also a mixed ethnicity, but also because he matched me in demeanor in most ways; he was friendly; he loved percussion; he was thoughtful and soft spoken. He matched me in demeanor in most ways, except one. Presence. He was there. I was not. My mind wandered. It wandered from my desires and excitement of the new adventure of going to college back to the days of performing I just left behind. It wandered from my pride of knowing how good I thought I was to my recent failure in the piano studio earlier that day. It wandered from the lack of relationships (no girlfriend, no strong family connections) and lonesome to work (coaching tumbling and gymnastics). It wandered to everywhere except where I was, there in that office with someone who saw right through me because I also reminded him of himself when he was my age. "Can I give you some advice, Justin," he said. "Wherever you are, be there." That was all he said. At this point, I don't recall exactly whether he expounded on what he meant, or if it was just the days that followed wherein I pieced together more of the thought. After all, I wasn't fully present. Remember? It came to me though that no matter how hard I tried or wanted to be somewhere or someone else in any particular moment, I could not, in that moment, physically be somewhere else, not without first physically leaving which would take enough time to put me into a different moment anyway. I remember thinking about that when I was next at work, throwing more kids over my shoulder as they attempted to learn back handsprings and other gymnastics skills, and for the first time, I let go of my other thoughts and engaged the moments in which I was. It was peculiar because as a youth, watching some rendition of a real life Robin Hood, I remember Robin Hood, hog-tied and being trod through Sherwood Forest by Nottingham's men, responding to one of the soldiers who asked him, "Aren't you worried about what's going to happen to you when we get you back to the palace?" Robin Hood was so relaxed in his bondage, no attempt to escape. The soldier saw Robin Hood's relaxed state; it's what prompted the question. Robin Hood simply replied "Whatever is going to happen to me is going to happen to me whether I worry or not." That made so much sense to me at the time, and because of that scene I hadn't "worried" about my life from moment to moment for years. Yet, it never occurred to me to "be where I was" (while I wasn't worried), not until the percussion director brought it up. I think the greatest benefit of "presence" is the ability to absorb all that is good (and bad) and experiential (and educational) at any given time. So much of what we miss in life happens while we're trying to "get there", while we're trying to make a life or figure out how to make a life. In the future, this "presence" skill will help me foster deeper, richer, healthier relationships. It will help me glean tidbits of gems of information that will generate eureka moments in my life and career. Most importantly, it will alleviate all the stress of trying at every moment to figure out what to do next because the roads will shift and change moment to moment, and as long as I keep trotting through the forest, each appreciated step will add to the last and deliver me to the next moment of my already occurring life.

I see with my ears. I want others to be able to see what I hear. To that effect, I write music not only to be heard, but I write music for people to "see". This will be my career. I come from a broad background of performance arts including everything from traditional concert band, to drum corps, to circus arts, to theatre. In high school I participated in every ensemble that had a drum. Outside of school I danced and tumbled. And at every turn, I was performing: dancing, drumming, playing piano, doing acrobatics, you name it. After high school, I marched with Drum Corps International and got involved with Circus Arts Troupe's, performing at theme parks like Hershey and Dollywood. All the while composing music for myself and for the competitive gymnasts I was now coaching. Eventually, I was compelled to study music theory and composition at the University of Tennessee in order to hone my craft. While I was there, I got married. Intending to transfer to LSU, my wife and I moved to Louisiana, but while waiting for in-state tuition, we ended up with three lovely children instead. Then we moved back to Tennessee where I am currently finishing my first bachelor's in Interdisciplinary Studies (Concentrations in Music and Theatre). My inspiration comes from the swirling amalgamation of all of these in my mind. I desire to create theatre that does more than sing, act, and dance. Even the music I write is its own sub-amalgamation of the greater art, being compiled of the rhythmic intensity of drum corps international, the swelling strings of a philharmonic orchestra, and the communicability of pop rock. A scholarship like this would help me continue my education, branching into the multi-media aspect of these creative and performance arts, film and television. I would use this scholarship to pay for tuition and housing while I complete a graduate program, to help support my family while I matriculate to a place of fruition where I can fully support them.