Tonight, the graduate composition and theory department will
display an experimental array of recently composed new music,
showcasing pieces by nine graduate composers in an entirely
student-run concert at 8 p.m. in the Jan Popper Theatre of
Schoenberg Hall.
The free concert will be directed by advanced composition and
theory graduate student Dwayne Milburn, who previously performed
extensively as the director of cadet music at the United States
Military Academy and as a commander and conductor of the United
States Army band.
All the pieces, ranging from blues to digital MIDI compositions,
are original works the graduate students took from one week to six
months to compose, with a wide variety of inspiration.
“Time-wise, it’s different for everybody,”
said graduate composer Dante De Silva. “Some take a day, some
months, and some years. I think all of (the composers) fall
somewhere within there.”
Amid the variety of styles and forms of inspiration used in this
collection of pieces, several of the compositions are derived from
previous works of art. Milburn’s “Notes Found By a
Suicide” was composed after reading the poetry of early 20th
century poet Frank Horn.
“I came across it in a book and thought, “˜This was a
black man graduating from medical school in the 1920s!’ And I
knew that the emotions of this poem were not just unique to African
Americans but there was something universal in the writing and that
inspired me,” Milburn said “People can find inspiration
in literary things but it doesn’t need to just transcribe to
more words; you can take that inspiration as an idea for writing
music, too.”
The concert closes with De Silva’s “Lt. General Midi
Suite,” a parody of the early 20th century Russian composer
Sergei Prokofiev’s “Lieutenant Kije Suite, Op.
60.” Playing off of the grandiose symphonic suite by
Prokofiev, De Silva composed “Lt. General Midi Suite”
using only keyboards and electronic MIDI-equipped instruments.
“The joke is that this MIDI piece uses almost all of the
128 general sounds that MIDI instruments come equipped with ““
helicopter sounds, gunshots, clapping, and snapping to recreate
this serious symphony about a soldier coming home after the
war,” Milburn said.
Reflecting the synthesis of seriousness and frivolity that seems
to categorize the tight-knit camaraderie between the graduate
composition students, De Silva, Milburn, and fellow graduate
student Steve Rothstein joke that they really have no set
expectations for the audience of this concert.
“As performers, I’d say that on any given day, as
long as the number of people in the audience is greater than the
number of people onstage, we’re having a good day,” De
Silva said jokingly.
“There are great things going on in general in the arts on
campus,” Milburn added. “I just hope people just take a
break and see what’s happening because a lot of it is
approaching world-class, and some of it’s already
there.”
Regardless of whether the songs succeed or fail, the graduate
students will use the concert as a learning experience.
Milburn explained that for composers, two lists will always
exist: the proud list of compositions displayed on the proverbial
Web site and the list that is stored under the bed or between the
cushions of the couch. As students, they have the flexibility to
add to the latter list without shame.
“Right now, it’s kind of like we’ve got
nothing to lose,” De Silva said. “It’s like when
I used to be in show choir and I once had to wear a fuchsia vest.
Compositionally, I think every one of us has that piece
that’s about as terrible as fuchsia sequins. But that’s
what makes our true work all the better.”
For additional A&E coverage, read the magazine on
Thursday.