Friends and families of several student composers gathered in Lansing Recital Hall on Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. to listen to the live performance of original music compositions. Pianos, stringed instruments and even a bassoon would bring the student composers’ works to life and display their talent and hard work.
A NIGHT OF PERFORMANCE
Many of the compositions were filled with story and passion, demonstrated in the composers’ musical decisions.
Music composition major Nicholas Kim’s “As Night Unfurls its Splendor,” played by music major Livi Thompson on piano, described a story of lead dancers performing on a stage through both energetic notes, as well as calm lulls.
Another piece performed was music composition major Jason Liang’s “Cello Concerto No. 1 ‘Traffic Jam.’” In a duet between himself on piano and music performance major Jiayi Qin on cello, a mix of playful piano tunes and the long drawls of the cello provided a contrast between the rush of going somewhere and the frustrations of being stalled.
“Granular Rain” by music composition major Caleb Bilti, was performed by himself on piano, and music performance major Kai Lee on bassoon. As the name suggests, the composition seemed to portray rainy weather, especially through Bilti’s playing, where he stomped on the sustaining pedal of the piano to produce a thunder sound, and also played very light notes to imitate the dropping of rain.
“Golden Hour,” a soundtrack by music composition major Jason Rhue, was played by a quartet: music performance major Isaiah Burton on piano, music education majors Anna Krahn and Katie Braito on violins, music major Daniel Shaffer on viola and music performance major Yeji Lee on cello. The soundtrack was part of cinema and media arts major Josh Cooley’s short romance film Golden Hour. Rhue had rearranged the soundtrack to be playable by live performers. The combination of trickling piano rhythms and underlying strings gave an emotional impact that swelled and decayed throughout the piece.
COMPOSING INSIGHTS
Rhue talked about the behind-the-scenes of his composition. He mentioned that an obstacle he ran into was how he originally made the soundtrack on a DAW (digital audio workstation), so when he had to move it to a notation software, he had to use a little math to get all the notes to line up.
“I had to figure out how to make all the hit points, actually hit,” Rhue said.
Rhue also commented on coming up with musical ideas.
“There’s a couple ways you can approach it, sometimes you just get a musical idea,” he said. “You know, think something along the lines of, ‘Oh this would sound really cool, I want to create this in my own way.’ You get to do it however you want.”
When it came to his composition “Golden Hour,” Rhue said that there was meant to be a contrast of feelings. “A lot of anxiety at times and just angst, also hurt from the past,” Rhue said, describing the themes of the short film and his soundtrack. He then added, “Also, it’s just really fun and lovely, I suppose. There’s a contrast.”
Rhue commended the members of his quartet, calling them all talented and expressed his appreciation for how much they had enjoyed practicing his piece.
“It’s always thrilling to have your own compositions played by live players,” Rhue said. “It’s where it really comes to life.”
INSPIRATION FROM GOD
Before the concert began, Associate Professor Robert Denham appealed to the audience to get a greater understanding of the effort of the composers and how they must get through fear and block from seeing a blank page before they even start. However, he ended his comments on a positive note, saying that the composers can push through and produce their works, which he attributed to God.
“This is an amazing gift of God,” Denham said, commenting on how God inspires stuck composers, as he gave way to let the results of such gifts be manifested on stage.
