And The Digital Composer-In-Residence Is…

David T. Little, the New York City-based composer and percussionist, has won DilettanteMusic.com’s digital composer-in-residence contest — by a huge margin, gaining more than half the votes.

This contest, as I mentioned the other day, was judged first by experts and then by the voting public, who could listen to Little’s music, and that of the other two contenders, Aaron Gervais from Edmonton, Canada, and Chiayu from Taiwan, on the DilettanteMusic.com website.

Little’s entry was called 1986, was written for a string quartet, and, as he described it:

is based on the tune “My Grandfather’s Clock.” ‘I have my own connections to this song, which I must have played hundreds, if not thousands of times as a boy playing in a fife and drum corps in New Jersey.’ 1986 calls on this experience, making use of the snare drum part that he played. The “tune” returns throughout the piece in different incarnations – from silly to serious – giving the listener a sense of a hazy, but fond, memory.

Little, who holds a degree in percussion performance, a Masters in Composition and a Master of Fine Arts degree, is studying for a Ph.D. at Princeton.

 

His victory was announced at a concert Thursday night at Wilton’s Music Hall (above) in London, where the London Sinfonietta performed a program curated by the three finalists featuring their contest entries alongside works that influenced them. Little chose the second movement of Charles Ives’ Trio, for violin, violoncello & piano, S. 86 (K. 2B17), “TSIAJ (“This scherzo is a joke”)” as the work that influenced him.

 

According to the press release, Little

 

now faces a year full of interactivity not only with the fans that voted for him, but with all Dilettante members including fellow musicians and composers. Unprecedented opportunities to connect with Little include “Composer’s Corner”, promoted and directly linked from the site homepage, a podcast series, online master classes, and forum discussions. His residency will conclude with a live performance of his newly-commissioned work, at a date and venue to be announced.

Could be an interesting year.