Do you recall your first experience with public speaking? It probably caused a little anxiety. Now imagine presenting your performative artwork that you have spent a year creating to a room full of adults and having to instruct professional musicians on how to perform your work in front of that audience. For many that experience would be terrifying. On the opening night of the 2024-25 Young Composers Festival, 11 brave students (some as young as 10 years old) from the introductory and intermediate Young Composers Project classes did just that with exceptional poise.
At the start of the evening Betsy Bright, TSO trumpet and YCP introductory class instructor spoke to the skills the students honed over the year:
It’s a little scary to have your piece performed by live professional musicians because they’re scary (just kidding). It’s a very vulnerable moment for everyone. Over the course of the first year, they learn theory skills, composition skills, how to write a nice melody, the mechanics of rhythm, how harmony works and all these notation skills. All very impressive stuff, but even more impressive to me are the communication skills that they learn. It’s one thing to write something for a computer to play back at you, but to write for live musicians is a whole different ball game. The communication skills they learn in the intro class serve them throughout their lives, whether we become composers or not. Everyone needs great communication skills. It’s maybe the most important skill we need in our world today.
Over the next two hours each student had a turn in the hot seat, introducing themselves and their composition, reading their printed score along with their instructor as the musicians performed their piece, then providing feedback to the musicians using the new musical vocabulary they learned throughout the year and answering any questions from the musicians. The musicians then performed the piece again with the new notes taken into consideration. Many of the pieces were completely transformed in the second reading, fully displaying the impact of a slight adjustment in tempo or key can have on a composition.
TSO education director Andrew O’Neal described the evening to the audience as “experiencing 11 world premieres in one concert,” the audience was also able to observe the interaction between the students and the musicians. The first-year intro students provided fewer notes to the musicians than their intermediate counterparts, displaying how confidence builds over time as they continue to interact with the musicians year after year. By the time they reach the advanced class, students have the confidence to provide detailed notes to Maestro Gomez.
Later in the evening intermediate instructor Joshua Nichols added, “the vast majority of composers make their own luck… they aren’t geniuses, wunderkinds, or inspired… they are hardworking, skillful, and intuitive. What you are about to hear is the byproduct not of genius, but of hard work, dedication, and skill. I’m proud of what they have accomplished.” While not all students continue with composition after high school, they all leave with a deep appreciation and understanding of the artform, plus that essential learning in confidence and communication.
