{"id":1057,"date":"2017-01-30T08:17:25","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T13:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/?p=1057"},"modified":"2017-01-30T08:17:47","modified_gmt":"2017-01-30T13:17:47","slug":"1057","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/2017\/01\/1057.html","title":{"rendered":"The Composition Program of My Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>

eighth blackbird with student composers<\/p><\/div>\n

When I was an undergraduate student, I won a prize that got me a reading session with the school orchestra.<\/p>\n

I showed up for the session and discovered that one of the professors had decided to use the time to get a reading of a piece he had written.\u00a0 I got five minutes at the end of the session.\u00a0 The orchestra got through the first 20 measures of my piece, a work I had spent the better part of a year on.<\/p>\n

I mentioned last week that we had eighth blackbird<\/strong><\/a> doing a recording session of some of our students\u2019 compositions.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to say a few things here that will sound like bragging, and maybe they are.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been teaching Composition at the UNC School of the Arts<\/strong><\/a> for over twenty years, and I\u2019ve gradually been able to shape the program to serve the students in ways that would have been unimaginable when I was in their shoes.\u00a0 More programs operate in this manner these days, but at many schools the professors still come first: composition teachers use their influence and school resources to get their own music performed and let the students fend for themselves.<\/p>\n

Studying composition can be a near-sighted experience.\u00a0 You spend so much time thinking about all the things that go into a piece of music, it\u2019s easy to lose touch with what comes out.\u00a0 The best way to overcome that myopia is to have your music performed and performed frequently.\u00a0 There is nothing quite like the experience of sitting in an audience and realizing that many of the concepts you felt were central to the way your music worked are inconsequential in the act of listening.<\/p>\n

So, last week, we had eighth blackbird here and they recorded Zachary Mackey\u2019s Interruptions<\/em> and Alexander Umfleet\u2019s Nivyrum<\/em>.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening the rest of this term:<\/p>\n

Feb. 1: UNCSA Wind Ensemble premieres Nicholas Karr\u2019s Ripple<\/em> and Zachary Mackey\u2019s Ontology<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Feb. 4: UNCSA String Orchestra premieres Alicia Bachorik\u2019s Tango<\/em>, Kendra Bragg Harding\u2019s Asterisms<\/em> and Peyton Clifford\u2019s This Feels Like the End<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Feb. 11: Alexander Umfleet has his senior recital, with performances of Sunder, Ira<\/em>, Noi<\/em>, Schism<\/em> and a new work for organ.<\/p>\n

Feb. 18: Faculty clarinetist Oskar Espina-Ruiz premieres Algernon Robinson\u2019s Tableaux<\/em> on his recital.<\/p>\n

Feb. 19: The Daedalus String Quartet<\/strong><\/a> comes for a recording session of Derek Arnold\u2019s Venus and Adonis<\/em>, Alicia Bachorik\u2019s Seared Valor<\/em>, Nia Franklin\u2019s Burgundy in Autumn<\/em>, Oliver Glynn\u2019s From Cliff to Crest<\/em> and Mason Johnston\u2019s Live from the Ears<\/em>.<\/p>\n

March 18: The Winston-Salem Symphony<\/strong><\/a> premieres Derek Arnold\u2019s The HMS Victory Under Full Sail.<\/em><\/p>\n

March 25: UNCSA Wind Ensemble premieres a new work by Zachary Mackey.<\/p>\n

March 26: Kendra Bragg Harding has her graduate recital, with performances of Asterisms<\/em>, Autumn Leaves, I Shall Wear Midnight, Three Pieces for Piano, Inis Mor, Lullaby<\/em> and selections from Shadowlands<\/em>.<\/p>\n

March 29: Student chamber ensembles premiere Jessica Buford\u2019s A Pair<\/em>, Peyton Clifford\u2019s Nocturne for My Country<\/em>, Algernon Robinson\u2019s Rhapsody<\/em> and Scott Shea\u2019s Wind Quintet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

April 1: UNCSA Flute Ensemble premieres Alicia Bachorik\u2019s A Visit to the Asylum<\/em> and Thomas Little\u2019s I Want To See You in the Summer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

April 11: UNCSA Percussion Ensemble premieres a new work by Alexander Umfleet.<\/p>\n

April 25: UNCSA Symphony Orchestra performs Kyrie Antoinette\u2019s Charybdia<\/em>, Derek Arnold\u2019s The HMS Victory Under Full Sail<\/em>, Nia Franklin\u2019s Europa<\/em>, Thomas Little\u2019s Grand Teton<\/em> and Thomas McMillan\u2019s Tin in It<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Working with their peers, working with professionals.\u00a0 Last year our 18 Composition majors had 88 performances of their music, from solos to full orchestra, all organized fully or in part by their teachers.\u00a0 Each one required extensive negotiation: we not only have to ensure that our composers get to hear their work, we have to make sure that the performers \u2013 at least when they are students — are getting full educational value from the experience as well.\u00a0 It\u2019s a lot of work, but hey — a lot of work is worth it when you are living the dream.<\/p>\n

For the record, I had a terrific education: I\u2019m not out to blast any element of it.\u00a0 Those were different times, and I was learning how rare it was for young composers to get performances of their music.\u00a0 It\u2019s not so rare nowadays, though \u2013 in some ways, in a more visually oriented era it\u2019s easier for young composers than for older ones \u2013 so I can focus on teaching my students how to write music, as opposed to teaching them to accept a world where nobody is interested in what they do \u2013 they will get plenty of opportunities to bang their heads against that wall, fairly and unfairly, once they are finished here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was an undergraduate student, I won a prize that got me a reading session with the school orchestra. I showed up for the session and discovered that one of the professors had decided to use the time to get a reading of a piece he had written.\u00a0 I got five minutes at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1057"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1062,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057\/revisions\/1062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}