SCI Conference
Updated: Jan 26, 2019
This weekend I felt justified in my decision to become a composer. I traveled to Bloomington, Indiana and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music for the 2018 Society of Composer's Inc. (SCI) Student National Conference. It was about an eight-hour drive, and I was partly terrified that I was going drive all of that way by myself and then find out that I was in the wrong place, or the conference had gotten cancelled. Nonetheless, I arrived at the right place, and the ensuing weekend was one of the most amazing musical and compositional experiences that I have ever had. While I didn't have anything being performed that weekend, I met amazing people who think like I think, I heard some amazing new music, and felt encouraged but challenged to come home and work harder than ever to achieve my goals as a composer. I hope to travel to many more of these conferences in the future.
As for my current projects, my main one is an unaccompanied flute solo. I have been listening to and studying pieces written by various 20th century composers who explored the countless extended techniques available to flutists, and plan to incorporate those into my own piece. I had a master class with Dr. Lisa Bost-Sandberg on this piece. Dr. Bost is a flutist and composer who teaches at the University of North Dakota. She was a great help to me and an inspiring person to work with. If you haven't heard her perform new music, it is an awesome experience. I urge you to check her out!
I'm also working on recording my tuba sonata from last semester. The recording session is set for October 28, and I'm working hard on the piano accompaniment part, with Adam Denner playing the tuba for it. I'm optimistic that we will get a quality final product.
