Student compositions premiere at annual concert
Every semester, the students in the University of Indianapolis music department compose their own music and perform a full concert for an audience. Songs are composed for string quartets, percussion ensembles and multimedia electronics.
The Student Composers Forum in Ruth Lilly Recital Hall was held on Nov. 18 and allowed the students of John Berners, associate professor of theory and composition and Pete Schmutte, associate professor of music, to premiere their original works.
“Fanfare for the Forum” a composition for trumpets, written by junior piano performance and composition major, Matthew Bridgham, was written specifically for the forum and served as a prelude to the compositions.
“Jabberwock,” composed by Karen Evans, a sophomore pianist and music performance major, was performed by junior Kimberly Holtman and junior Allison Evanich. It came from an assignment for voice and piano.
The piece was inspired by the remake of “Alice in Wonderland,” in which Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwock” is referenced many times, Evans decided to put the poem to music and see what the outcome would be.
Evans wanted to bring the poem to life and to help it tell the story it was meant to convey.
“The poem itself is a nonsense poem, with many made up words,” Evans said. “The poem tells a story, and my goal with this piece was to make the music tell the story along with the words.”
The song “Fugal Tendencies,” a quartet saxophone piece composed by freshman Joseph Forte, was performed by Forte, senior Daniel Rauscher, sophomore Jake Towe and Faculty Adjunct Mark Ortwein. The piece left the audience tapping their toes with it’s unique sound and stomping beats.
Adding to the mystery, the program notes for this piece read, “Imagine, if you will, a fireside dance held for those wishing to answer some greater call. Lost in the night, they move erratically to try and escape that which looms over them. It is only when the sun breaks forth at dawn that the celebration ends and the dancers are forced to face themselves.”
Forte also composed a piece entitled “Kick Pop,” an electronic recording played via 2-channel digital audio.
Audience members could be seen tapping their toes and moving to the beats, and many said that it sounded like something that could be heard in a club because of its unique beats.
The music styles and different instruments helped to add to the interest of the night.
“The Student Composers Forum showed a wide range of styles, which kept it interesting. There were compositions that could be heard in an orchestral setting and even one that you could hear in a club,” junior music performance major Susan Lutterbach said.
“The Wishing Well” composed and directed by Towe, a music composition major, was an orchestral piece played by 20 different instruments.
The set-up for this particular piece took a few extra hands, with Associate Professors of Music, James Spinazolla and Berners coming up on stage to help out.
“The piece was composed for string orchestra and brass and was created simply for the love of composing,” Towe said. “It has a creepy and eerie feel to it with a “catchy” theme that occurs toward the middle of the piece.”
The night’s performance ended with a piece entitled “Rest Tonight,” a lullaby composed by junior music performance major Elizabeth Knox. The piece was written for a string orchestra and women’s choir.
“I always enjoy this concert, and this was no exception,” Lutterbach said.
