Day 3: Benjamin Taylor - Underwood New Music Readings: From the Composer

DAY 3: Thoughts on Underwood New Music Readings

by Benjamin Taylor

 

This morning's session with the mentor composers and George Manahan was an informal time for us composers to get feedback on our pieces.  This was an honest, open time where the mentor composers equally praised my work and gave me wonderful critique.  I found it fascinating that in many cases, they were able to articulate a problem in my piece that I had previously only felt on a gut level and not been able to put my finger on.  I appreciated that they not only pointed out problems, but were also quick to provide possible solutions to help resolve issues the piece was having.  I'm coming away from this morning's session with a much clearer outlook on orchestration, harmony, form, texture, counterpoint and "seizing musical opportunities."  After the session, and a few pictures, we said our goodbyes.  I think it is fair to say that it felt like we'd been together for much more than 2 days.  It felt more like a few weeks!  Making music together and talking about our music together on a deep, intimate level has forged friendships of admiration and respect among all of us who participated.  I'm super motivated to go and write great music!  

Day 2 & 3: Pin Hsin Lin - Underwood New Music Readings: From the Composer

Day 2 & 3 - Thoughts on Underwood New Music Readings

by Pin Hsin Lin

Christina Jensen PR
Publicity and Promotion Discussion

The second morning, June 2, 2012, consisted of a professional development workshop comprising of a presentation on “Intellectual Property and Copyright Law” by Jim Kendrick, a summary on “Engraving and Self-Publishing” by Bill Holab, an overview of “Support Structures for Composers” by New Music USA president Ed Harsh, and a course in “Publicity and Promotion” by Christina Jensen. This workshop provided useful information for us as we move into becoming professional composers. Writing good music is just half of the process, we need to know how to effectively promote ourselves.

Afterward, my fellow composers and I met with the maestro Manahan again before the run-through concert that evening. In Saturday night's second reading session, ACO sounded even better than yesterday! My fellow composers and I briefly introduced our works before the maestro rehearsed a few spots and performed a full run-through. All of the great qualities of each work were well pronounced today. My colleagues and I were very happy with the results. After the concert, we went to a reception to celebrate our successful performance and to meet other ACO alumni.

Finally, the third day, June 3, 2012, opened with a panel discussion of issues relevant to young composers by our illustrious mentor composers and maestro. This time they focused on our music and composing process, which I never learned before.

George Manahan and Pin Hsin Lin

I would like to express my deep gratitude to American Composers Orchestra, maestro George Manahan, our mentor composers (Bob Beaser, Steven Stucky, Derek Bermel, and Melinda Wagner), and the other participant composers for this precious experience. I sincerely hope the Underwood Readings program will continue to grow in the future. Because of this wonderful program, many individual creative and personal voices can be seen!

Day 2: Benjamin Taylor - Underwood New Music Readings: From the Composer

Day 2 - Thoughts on Underwood New Music Readings

by Benjamin Taylor

Benjamin Taylor Explains his piece,
Leaving White, to the audience.

The energy and vibe of the performance-reading was wonderful!  The orchestra read our pieces this evening to a sold-out audience.  We composers all sat in the front, taking our turns giving a brief introduction to our works, and then taking the hot-seat during the performance.  Each piece spoke with a clear voice, and each was distinct and unique.  During the intermission and after the concert, I enjoyed talking with members of the audience, all of which were very complimentary and supportive of the music they heard.  I especially thought that the soloists did an incredible job in my piece; Michael Roth on violin, Stephen Taylor on oboe, Stephen Hart on Clarinet, Laura Koepke on bassoon, and Ben Herman on timpani.  Working with this orchestra, George Manahan, and the mentor composers has been an experience worth years studying composition at a university!

Day 1: Benjamin Taylor - Underwood New Music Readings: From the Composer

Day 1 of ACO's Underwood New Music Readings

by Benjamin Taylor

Benjamin Taylor, Michael-Thomas Foumai & Steven Stucky
Day 1 - Underwood New Music Readings

Wow! What a whirlwind of a day! Today's session was a serious high-octane ride. The day started at 8:00 a.m. meeting with composers Robert Beaser, Derek Bermel, Steven Stucky, and Melinda Wagner, ACO Executive Director Michael Geller, and ACO operations staff Greg Evans and Jules Lai. Enjoying a nice breakfast, we made introductions and then met individually with the composers and conductor George Manahan. While my meetings were only a few minutes long, they were very useful to clarify a few spots I thought would give the orchestra trouble, as well as answer a few quick questions. I wasn't feeling nervous until we sat down in front of the orchestra. Wow, what a sight to sit five feet away from all that acoustic power! Peter Fahey's piece, Impressions, opened the session, and then my piece, Leaving White, was second. Sitting in the "hot seat" (directly behind George Manahan and between Steven Stucky and Robert Beaser) was certainly intimidating, yet at the same time, it was reassuring to feel their support. On the whole, the orchestra did an incredible job sight-reading my piece. I made many notes while listening to the first full run-through. They then went back and did the second half of the piece again with huge improvement. I kept getting those "oh-my-goodness-I-can't-believe-this" chills. I couldn't stop smiling! So much of the piece was working even better than I had envisioned. We then enjoyed listening to Pin Hsin Lin's piece, Symphony No. 3, Michael-Thomas Foumai's piece, Concerto for Orchestra, Ryan Chase's piece, The Light Fantastic, and Paul Kerekes' piece, timber. After working with the orchestra, we spent the afternoon receiving excellent feedback from a team of musicians from the orchestra as well as from the mentor composers. This evening, I'm preparing my errata sheet, which allows me to apply some of the feedback I received today. I can't wait to hear the piece again tomorrow!

Day 1: Pin Hsin Lin - Underwood New Music Readings: From the Composer

Day 1 - Thoughts on the Underwood New Music Readings
-- by Pin Hsin Lin, participant composer

  

Day one of ACO’s Underwood New Music Readings has ended. What a wonderful day full of professional and helpful activities! I am in my hotel room reviewing the feedback about my piece from distinguished mentor composers, the wonderful maestro, and experienced orchestra principals and librarian. Here is what happened since yesterday when I flew to New York City from my current city, Champaign, IL:

The night before the readings, my fellow composers and I participated in a welcome reception where we had the chance to meet ACO board members, ACO Executive Director Michael Geller, and ACO Development Director Barbara Burch. At this wonderful party, I learned about ACO’s vision and mission and what’s going on in the new music industry in the United States.

I also had the chance to meet with mentor composers, Robert Beaser, Steven Stucky, Melinda Wagner, and Derek Bermel, and maestro George Manahan. In this short meeting, I briefly described what I want to express through my music and what I would like to learn from this reading event. Then they shared with me their comments about my music.

During the working rehearsal, the 1^st reading, I met the distinguished composer Aaron Jay Kernis and shared our composing experiences. The audience showed their enthusiasm and support to the young composer participants. They often came to us and introduced themselves. The concert hall was full of learning and communication, which encouraged me to want to write more new music in the future.

After the reading, we met with the mentor composers and conductor again, along with orchestra principals for a “NUTS AND BOLTS” session, where we discussed the effectiveness of different notations, formal concerns, score engravings, and compositional issues. The comments of maestro Manahan and mentor composers were very professional and right on point.

As a composer, my creating and orchestration chops are only half the story. How composers present themselves is important. Further, having well prepared, well thought-out scores and individual part scores are essential parameters for a successful work.

This was an amazing experience I will benefit from for my entire compositional career. The greatest lessons in composing orchestral work are learned during the process of having music performed, especially read by top-notch musicians like ACO. I also learned a lot from my fellow composers’ works.

EarShot Home

Day two of the EarShot experience has ended. It was a great day packed with activities. Here is what happened:

In the morning we gathered at Copley Hall for our final meetings with maestro Feddeck where we discussed our errata lists and other issues we wanted addressed in the final reading session. We were all quite nervous, I think, hoping the aspects that did not gel yesterday would come together today.

As we soon found out, however, there was no reason to be nervous. The orchestra sounded even better than yesterday! In today's public reading session the composers spoke briefly about their work before the maestro rehearsed a few spots and performed a full run-through, which was recorded. All of the great qualities of each work I described yesterday were even more pronounced today and we were all very happy with the results. My piece came a long way in just 24 hours thanks to the furious errata work by the SDS librarians and maestro Feddeck's wonderful leadership. All in all, I could not be happier with the performance!

After the readings we met with the mentor composers and maestro Feddeck for an "Aesthetics feedback session" where we discussed overall effectiveness, formal concerns and other compositional issues. Our mentor's comments were right on point and very helpful. For my piece everyone was complimentary and supportive before giving constructive feedback on ways to improve. The mentors and maestro Feddeck articulated specific ways to edit in places I knew something was lacking, but could not quite put my finger myself.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of an informative professional development workshop comprising of a presentation on copyright law by Corey Field, an overview of support systems for composers by New Music USA president Ed Harsh and a crash course in MOLA score and part preparation by principal librarian Courtney Cohen. Finally, the day ended with a panel discussion of issues relevant to young composers by our illustrious mentors.

While the events an sounds of the past two days are still sinking in, I can undoubtably say the this was an amazing experience I will benefit from for my entire compositional career. The greatest lessons in composing for the orchestra are learned in the process of having music performed, especially read by top-notch musicians like those at the SDS. However, one's compositional and orchestration chops are only half the story. How composers present themselves and thief music is just as important and having well prepared, well thought-out scores and instrumental parts is essential for a successful work.

I cannot thank the San Diego Symphony, maestro James Feddeck, our mentor composers and the ACO enough for this invaluable experience. I sincerely hope the EarShot program will continue to grow in the coming years!

EarShot San Diego New Music Readings: Blog 1 - David Kirkland Garner

I am thrilled to be participating in the EarShot new music readings with the San Diego Symphony along with fellow composers Adam Greene, Paul Frucht and Chi-Hui Jen. As I write, I sit in my hotel room exhausted after a long and exciting day of activities having just finished my errata sheet for tomorrow’s public reading. A quick recap of our day:

The morning began with quick meetings with our distinguished mentor composers Robert Beaser, John Corigliano and Rand Steiger and wonderful maestro James Feddeck to discuss any potential problems with our scores.

Next came the first of two reading sessions lasting 2.5 hours with roughly 30 minutes per piece. Everyone’s first reaction is the same: the orchestra sounds wonderful. The first piece read was Adam Greene’s In Winter in which the orchestra gracefully maneuvered the delicate timbre shifts in his icy landscape. Next, Paul Frucht’s Penumbra is ripe with beautifully orchestrated bright flourishes that sweep throughout the orchestra. After a quick break the orchestra picked up Chen-Hui Jen’s yet the dew remains in pale. Prickly walls of sound emerge and retract in a mist of subtle and intricate gestures. My piece, the Machine, was next. My piece is characterized by repetitive figures that build to a frenzy only to release into another machine texture. At the time I think I was too nervous and excited to use my ears, but throughout the rest of the afternoon the reading sunk in and I was able to make some slight changes and adjustments for tomorrow’s reading. 

After the readings we had an extensive and informative feedback session with the SDS librarian and a group of musician liaisons. The instrumentalists gave specific reactions based on forms filled out by the orchestra after each piece. It was extremely beneficial to be able to sit down with the players right after the readings for a talk. The main theme of the session was clear: less is more. Many of the performers spoke about spots throughout the scores where us composers gave too much information that made performing overly complicated--the cello section mentioned a note with three different subtle directions. It seems, in the world of limited orchestra rehearsal time we composers must be as efficient as possible in every aspect of our piece. After a tour of Copley Hall led by informed San Diego Symphony staff, we met for happy hour around the corner. 

More to come tomorrow!

2011 ACO Underwood New Music Reading Composer Videos

We have been posting the blogs from the 2011 ACO Underwood New Music Readings posted on NewMusicbox.org, but nothing is better than video. Here are some comments from all the composers captured on video during the first day of the readings.

Before & After: Hear What One Composer Says About His Experience with the Underwood New Music Reading

"This last week has been a busy one, so it wasn't until this morning (Thursday) that it hit me that the Readings were just around the corner! Coming up on the train from Philly tonight, it occurred to me that I'll most likely hear my piece tomorrow without ever having gone over it with ACO's Music Director George Manahan, and though it might seem a little counterintuitive, I kind of like that idea.", Composer Michael Djupstrom wrote in his blog on NewMusicBox.org. Read more from composer Michael Djupstrom about his experience with the 2011 ACO Underwood New Music Reading.

Underwood New Music & Jazz Composers Institute Readings

From June 3-7, 2011, ACO presented a series of readings of new orchestral compositions. Beginning with the Underwood New Music Reading, featuring works by six composers (Friday & Saturday) followed by the Jazz Composers Institute Reading, featuring eight composers' works (Sunday & Monday). Hear the JCOI readings origin story from George E. Lewis and hear what UNM Readings composer, Kate Soper, has to say about her experience.