New Year’s Resolutions for Composers

In a recent posting on the wonderful blog of Orthodox Christian theology, Mystagogy, author John Sanidopoulos presents, without comment, a short quotation attributed to the 12^th Century Church Father, St. Peter of Damascus. On the topic of resolution, St. Peter writes, "If you want to do something good, do it; and if you cannot do it, then resolve to do it, and you will have achieved the resolution even if you do not fulfill the action itself. Thus a habit, whether good or bad, can gradually and spontaneously be overcome. If this were not the case, no criminals would ever be saved, whereas in fact not only have they been saved, but many have become conspicuous for their excellence. Think what a great gulf separates the criminal from the saint; yet resolution finally overcame habit." It’s that final line, "…resolution finally overcame habit" that I find so compelling. Perhaps, we all know this deep inside and this is the reason we dutifully make our resolutions over and over again, year after year. As I am apparently not immune to this desire, here are the top five New Year’s resolutions I have made for my own professional career:

1. Write Everyday

This is a mantra my students hear continually from my lips. It’s a notion that I heard from both of my principal teachers, Roger Hannay and Donald Erb. I remember Roger once asking what I was writing. Having just completed a piece (a Herculean task for an undergraduate and one that I thought merited high accolades), I off-handedly replied that I was “in-between” pieces at the moment. “Then you are not a composer right now” was his quick response. For some reason, this comment stuck with me. It was further bolstered by Donald Erb who continually asked me what I was working on, even long after I had graduated. Both of these great composers expected that I would be constantly writing, constantly embarking on new projects and constantly growing as a creative artist. For the most part, I practice what they preached in this area. I don’t literally, physically, sit in my studio each day without interruption – 365 days in succession – writing music. But I do come pretty close. And on those days that I am not actively writing – I am usually noodling in my head; rolling ideas around until they begin to take on an urgency that compels me to commit them to manuscript. My resolution in 2012 is to maintain this one good habit instilled in me by my teachers.

2. Feed the Aural Imagination

A good diet for composers!

One of the best ways to maintain an ambitious writing schedule is to have a deep reservoir of ideas. To create music that goes beyond mere craft, a composer must have a well-developed aural imagination. I’m a firm believer that for a composer – someone responsible for creating something literally out of nothing – this aural imagination is fed and maintained by active engagement in thought-provoking and inspiring activities. Of course, the first activity is that of music itself. It’s important to listen to recordings and, preferably, attend live performances of as much music as possible. However, feeding the aural imagination goes well beyond just music. I believe a composer needs to be exposed to great visual art, to dance, to theatre and great literature. Composers should grapple with great ideas – secular and sacred. Engaging in and thinking about art, philosophy, politics, literature, religion among other disciplines feeds the creative spirit. This is an area where I have lagged in recent years. I’ve read too few books, attended too few art galleries and far too few concerts. My resolution in 2012 is to correct this undesirable trait.

3. Take Advantage of Opportunities

The idea that a composer would not take advantage of an opportunity seems ridiculous. Yet, how often I have let deadlines for score calls and similar opportunities pass me by. How many times I have not immediately followed up with a performer or ensemble that I met in some professional or social setting. I could fall back upon the well-worn excuse of not having the time. For me, this is no excuse. Rather, it is a cop-out. In 2012, I need to do a much better job of following leads, applying for grants, fellowships and commissions and submitting to as many eligible (and affordable) score calls and competitions as I can. I need to continually remind myself of something I stress to my students: composing music is my work. I have many other important obligations, but it is critical for the composer to distinguish between professional obligations and true work. I should not compose after my "work” is completed. I need to fulfill my obligations to the best of my ability so I can get back to my work; to writing music and taking advantage of all opportunities to write more music. 

4. Use Social Media

In 2011, I finally launched a new professional website. I also began to participate more fully in several social media outlets including the ubiquitous Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the new kid on the block, Google+. I was diligent about maintaining this blog and also set up pages on ReverbNation and SoundCloud where my music can be streamed. Furthermore, I got my 2007 chamber music recording, Aegean Counterpoint, up on iTunes and Amazon.mp3. And still, I am way behind in the new frontier of social media and Internet marketing. I’m a firm believer that composers must promote themselves. We don’t often have professional representation and print publishing opportunities are vanishing faster than smoke in a wind tunnel. In 2011, I realized that sites like Facebook were not just about posting pictures of pets and alerting the world to scores in online games. Social media is a serious force that can be used to do what publishers and agents used to do for composers: get composers noticed, commissioned and performed. Good examples of rethinking about social media and online marketing can be found in two recently posted articles. The first, written by Gerrit Hall on the technology site, Mashable, is entitled “Facebook Timeline Is Basically Your Digital Resume.” The second article, written by Michael Wolf on the technology site, GigaOM, is entitled “Why 2012 Will Be the Year of the Artist-Entrepreneur.” Both are fascinating articles and speak to my point that composers need to begin to harness the great potential the Internet offers. However, to do so takes diligence and some sacrifice of time. I believe it is time well spent and resolve in 2012 to make even better use of this tremendous resource.

5. Give Back

Yours truly with the Fall 2011 GSU Student Composers.

In addition to writing everyday, feeding my aural imagination, taking advantage of all opportunities and effectively using social media, it is important for me to remember to give back to my profession as much as I can. First and foremost, this means being a good composition teacher. This is no small task – especially given the fact that I stand in the overwhelming shadow of truly great composers and teachers. I am indebted in ways that cannot be expressed in mere words to these teachers. The only way I know to properly pay them back for all they have given me is to try, as best I can, to do the same for my students. My 2012 resolution is to be more patient and understanding and to be more engaged in my pupils’ work and careers. I resolve to remember that it’s a tough business we’re in and everyone needs as much help as they can get. Moreover, I resolve to be a better colleague to my fellow “professional” composers and performers. After all, if we don’t look out for each other, who will?

So there is my list. Hopefully one or two of these resolutions will take root and will overcome some undesirable habits. What’s on your list for 2012? Leave me a comment and let’s talk!

Old School Thinking

The respected composer David Lang recently released a new album on the Cantaloupe Music label entitled “this was written by hand.” The album consists of two works for solo piano performed beautifully by Andrew Zolinsky. One composition is entitled “memory pieces” – a cycle of memorial works written for Lang’s friends and the other piece is the one that bears the album’s name. It’s a name that caught my eye even before I noticed who wrote the music. In doing just a bit of cursory research, I learned that “this was written by hand” was a work created by Lang after the composer realized that he had not physically written a piece of music with a pencil since purchasing a personal computer in 1993. In his liner notes, the composer wonders whether “…the means of writing had any effect on the writing itself.”

In coming across this piece, I’m struck by just how “old school” my method of writing music has remained over the years. I was frankly astonished that a composer of my generation had not written music by hand since 1993. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. My surprise speaks more about my own working habits than anything else. With very rare exceptions, all of my music is still written by hand. Pencil against paper; eraser dust and overhead light; instead of the clicking of keys (computer or keyboard), the quiet rubbing of lead onto manuscript with only occasional breaks in the relative silence as an electric pencil sharpener whines in the air from time to time.

From days gone by: the tools of the notation trade...

I have written several works solely at the computer and have disliked the process. For me, there is something very genuine about the act of physical writing. The pencil is a metaphor of the creative process for me. As I write, I give of myself and as the music is slowly formed, I am slowly drained – much as the pencil slowly diminishes in size until it becomes too small to use. All of its energy and life now lay spread upon pages and pages of manuscript paper. I’d like to think that I have poured out myself equally upon that paper. This is the true act of composing for me. Using a computer seems like a cheat or rather, a penalty for my misuse of time and the resulting necessity to speed up the process a bit to meet a deadline. There’s no doubt in my mind that the means of writing – for me – absolutely has a profound effect on the writing itself. This is probably not discernable by a listener, yet it is absolutely something that I feel as I write.

A portion of my doctoral dissertation from 1991:
lovingly written and engraved by hand

Of course, this can only be true for me personally. It would be patently absurd for me to suggest that using a pencil is the “correct” way of composing. The mere fact that David Lang has not used a pencil in nearly 20 years and his career is much more successful than mine is a testament to this. Also, most of my students have rarely – if ever in their entire lives – used a pencil and paper exclusively for writing. Moreover, they will most likely never abandon the computer. In my early years as a composition teacher in the mid 1990’s, I used to force students to write with pencil and paper. I felt that their creativity was being dictated by how well they knew how to use computer notation software. Over the years, I have largely abandoned this rigid stance. In trying to enforce this posture, I began to look more and more like a horse and buggy driver wistfully gazing upon a beautifully crafted carriage as cars sped by.

And yet…

I can’t help but feel a little sad – and more than a little old – when simply writing a piece of music by hand has become such a novelty that it garners attention. “Writing by hand” has now joined “cooking from scratch” as an activity rarely practiced by many and I can’t shake the feeling that we are all somehow the poorer for it. 

Old Dog...New Tricks

I’m closing in on three decades of composing music. It’s hard for me to even look at that sentence, after having written it, and believe that it’s true.  After so much time, it seems logical that my years of experience would have led me to many different types of projects. While it’s true that my catalog is ripe with orchestral, chamber, vocal and band music, there are still, nevertheless, many genres that have eluded me. Opera, ballet and film scoring immediately come to mind.

I can now scratch at least one of those genres off the list. I have recently completed my first movie sound track: the score to an independently produced comedy. I found the process extremely interesting and instructive in two major ways. The first has to do with my selection as the film’s composer. I was connected to the director of the film via Facebook. He and I were high school classmates who had, over the years, lost touch with one another. When I began plunging into social media in a big way a few years ago, he was one of the many old friends who “found” me and wanted to befriend me on the social media behemoth.

At first, I had a particularly “old school” notion about how I would acquire “friends” on Facebook. Namely, they would have to be people that I knew really well and with whom I was already interacting with on a relatively frequent basis. This was certainly not the case with every old high school friend who “befriended” me. However, it began to occur to me that social media could be used for much more than keeping up with close friends. Here were opportunities to reconnect with people from my past, strengthen ties with acquaintances and, most importantly, make new connections.

After accepting my old classmate’s friend request, he soon contacted me directly and explained that he was directing a new feature length motion picture and, having noticed my career path as a composer and given our past association, was interested in having me score the film. The power of the Internet within the context of social media was driven home to me immediately. Here was an opportunity that came my way simply due to my clicking a button on a social media site. From that point forward, the lesson has not been lost on me and I have embraced social media in a big way. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, you name it and I’ve probably got a profile page on it!

Having learned my lesson with respect to social media, the second fascinating aspect of this project was simply learning the ropes of film scoring itself. Having never attempted this before, everything seemed new to me. I suppose I was slightly prepared for the project having written several large-scale vocal works. In the writing of these vocal works, I learned to make the music subservient to the text. This skill came in handy as now my music would need to be subservient to the characters, their dialogue onscreen as well as to the tastes and preferences of the director. If you do not truly enjoy collaboration – film scoring is certainly not for you.

In my case, the process of writing film music was liberating in a strange way. Having so many constraints thrust upon me sharpened my compositional chops considerably. I enjoyed the challenge of fitting specific types of music to very specific time frames (ranging from segments of 18 seconds to ten minutes). Then there was the added complexity of writing music for a comedy. Coming up with ideas that were light enough for the comedic material without sounding trite posed a huge challenge. In the end, I felt that I was largely successful in my efforts. I composed 25 segments of music with a total duration of over 50 minutes, crafted music that satisfied the needs of the movie, the wishes of the director and still nourished me as an artist. I’m sure that the entire project has made me a better composer and a more sensitive collaborator. Yet, I still have a long way to go before I master this genre. If anything, I now know what I don’t know about writing music for film!

However, it’s a comfort to know that even after so much time composing, this old dog can still learn a few new tricks…

Busy Work

When thinking about how to begin this month’s blog posting, my first thought was to make excuses for the length of time since my last article. Of course, such hubris presupposes that there is some sort of pent-up demand for my thoughts online and much of the world’s unrest stems from the frustration felt worldwide by the lack of timely posted articles on Greek & Composing. Or it assumes that anyone noticed that it’s been over six weeks since the last posting. Or that anyone even reads this blog! On Planet Nick, I’m sure this is the case, but back on Planet Earth, I’m guessing not so much.

Yours truly performing at the
2011 Atlanta Greek Festival

So I then thought to whine and complain about my fall schedule and how incredibly hectic my life has been lately. It’s hard to imagine something more endearing than someone telling you how busy they are. As delightful a read that might have been, I refrained from going in that direction because I remembered one simple truth:

We’re all busy.

Sure, I’d like to think that I’m doing unique and amazing work and that by burning the candle proverbially at both ends I’m somehow a really important creative artist. However, there is probably a medical intern somewhere just now getting off a 24 hour shift at the hospital having participated in the saving of someone’s life along the way. There is also, most likely, an immigrant worker just now completing another day of backbreaking labor. In short, there are many people much busier than I could ever imagine.

Composer Alvin Singleton visiting a recent Composition
Seminar at Georgia State University

Also – I have no real cause for complaint. Most of the activities that have me feeling a bit overwhelmed are largely self-inflicted. No one put a gun to my head and compelled me to say “yes” to every project I have undertaken. I volunteered for this.

And what, exactly, am I complaining about? That I’m writing too much music? That too many outstanding performers are interested in what meager efforts I can muster for them to perform? Should I be upset that I’m performing too many Greek Festivals this fall? That I am somehow not being fairly compensated for these performances? Am I to be resentful that I have too many talented students? That these students challenge me to be a better teacher and composer or that I am able to teach them within the safety net of tenure in a university?

A few of the pieces I've completed this year...

At the end of the day, I must remember that all this composing, teaching and performing – while hectic at times – is a blessing. These activities – especially during peak times - teach me discipline, feed my creative spirit and strengthen me as an artist. Instead of bitter complaint, I need to simply be grateful and appreciative of this wonderful, busy, work.

Remembering Fred

Frederick Fox (1931 - 2011)

I heard some very sad news this afternoon. It came, as most of my news now reaches me, via a Twitter feed. Composer Frederick Fox has passed away. He had served as professor of composition at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music for 23 years, 13 of those as chair of the Composition Department. Fred retired from IU in April of 1997 but left a significant legacy both in the founding of the IU New Music Ensemble in 1974 as well as in all of the students he guided over the years.

I never studied privately with Fred during my years at IU (1985 – 1988) but he was surely a huge force both in the Composition Department as well as the whole school. I did have the great fortune, however, of taking orchestration as an independent study with him and did, of course, have an opportunity to take a few lessons with him over the years as well. Much of what I learned about orchestration did not come from a textbook but certainly came from Fred. I will also always remember his very kind words and encouragement about my music when he did have an opportunity to look it over.

More than anything, however, I remember Fred’s irreverent personality. I remember how once he and Donald Erb (my mentor) were irritated at a concert they were attending in the old Recital Hall at IU and began sailing paper airplanes made out of programs from the balcony. (Try getting away with that in these ultra sensitive PC times!) I also remember him relentlessly teasing me about being Greek. I have no idea why…but it was always a source of great amusement to him to refer to me, not by name, but simply as “The Greek.”  This was often followed by an off-color comment and roaring laughter as he ambled down a hallway leaving me bewildered.

There will no doubt be many, many stories told and written about Fred. He was a wonderful, wonderful composer and a fabulous teacher and he will surely be missed. I will leave it to others – those closer to him than I was - to speak more deeply of his work and his influence upon their careers. However, I cannot resist one last story:

When I first arrived in Bloomington, I had to take an aural skills placement exam. I was directed to Fred’s office. Those of you who knew Fred absolutely remember what his office looked like! A cross between Pee-Wee’s Playhouse and the attic of a very eccentric uncle, it even surpassed, in some ways, Donald Erb’s studio in terms of the sheer volume of kitschy artifacts - and that’s saying something! I knocked upon his door tentatively and he flung it open and asked in a gruff voice “You here for the test?” Eyes looking wide as I made my way in, I didn’t answer at first.

“Take that thing off!!!” he bellowed.

Startled from my gazing, I mumbled, “Wha…? Take off what?”

“That tie! Take it off! We don’t wear that stuff around here!”

He then proceeded to rip off my tie. It was a mustard yellow color with little red polka dots and I was very proud of it. A real 1980’s power tie that all the lawyers were wearing on L.A. Law. After he wrangled the tie off of me, he threw it on a hanging pterodactyl swaying lazily from his ceiling – held in place only by fishing line. After my exam was over, he began pushing me out the door. When I feebly asked if I could get my tie back he shouted “NO!” and slammed the door shut.

For the next three years, I would drop by often and visit my tie. It remained draped around the pterodactyl during my entire stay at IU. When the day of my graduation finally arrived, I popped in to say my good-byes and glancing up at the tie I knew that it had become a permanent fixture.

Nearly ten years later, I was teaching as a Visiting Professor of composition at the Georgia State University School of Music. I had recently sent off an immensely talented student to IU. In the spring of 1997, the student came back to visit me after his first year up in Bloomington and told me of Fred’s retirement. He also said that Fred had a gift for me. He handed me a small white box.

It was the tie.

I pray that Fred and Don continue to sail their paper airplanes down to us from their heavenly perches. May their memories be eternal.

Art Isn't Always Beautiful

“Art isn’t always beautiful.”

I’m paraphrasing here, but these were sentiments expressed by Donald Erb during one of our composition lessons in the early 1990’s. I can’t recall the circumstances that prompted his comment, but I’ve been reminded of my mentor’s words recently, having followed the controversy swirling around an album cover designed for Steve Reich’s WTC 9/11 performed by the Kronos Quartet. Much has been written about the choice to use the stark photo taken by Masatomo Kuriya that captured one tower aflame as a second jet hurtled toward the other. The image is heart breaking and cannot help but stir up deep emotions in those who remember the awful events of September 11, 2001. Nonesuch, the label publishing the recording, has subsequently pulled the album cover. A different image will be used when the album is released on September 20.  For his part, Reich issued the following statement on the Nonesuch website:

“As a composer I want people to listen to my music without something distracting them. The present cover of WTC 9/11 will, for many, act as a distraction from listening and so, with the gracious agreement of Nonesuch, the cover is being changed.

When the cover was being designed, I believed, as did all the staff at Nonesuch and the art director, that a piece of music with documentary material from an event would best be matched with a documentary photograph of that event. I felt that the photo suggested by our art director was very powerful, and Nonesuch backed me up. All of us felt that anyone seeing the cover would feel the same way.

When the cover was released on the Nonesuch site and elsewhere, there was, instead, an outpouring of controversy mostly by people who had never heard the music.”

It’s true that Art isn’t always “beautiful.” Sometimes an artist feels compelled to react to very ugly aspects of the human condition from time to time. An artistic response to tragedy, in fact, is essential. Reaction to tragedy through the depiction of images, words or music makes us unique among the creatures of this earth. However, as artists, we do not live in a vacuum. How we react, artistically, is equally important. As members of a community, we must remind ourselves that powerful artistic works offered up for public consideration will affect our neighbors in profound and perhaps even unintended ways.

There has been some cynical talk that Reich and/or Nonesuch cooked up the album cover and its subsequent removal from the CD in order to promote sales of the recording. I have a hard time believing this. After all, Steve Reich is a Pulitzer Prize winning composer whose name is in virtually every textbook on 20^th Century music written in the last few decades. The group performing his work, the Kronos Quartet, is one of the most highly respected and successful chamber ensembles of our time. They could have issued a cover that was simply the color blue and sold a healthy number of CDs. I also agree with Anne Midgette who wrote, in her thoughtful August 12 Washington Post column, “I don’t think Reich and Nonesuch advocated the use of this image lightly or unthinkingly.” How could they? For his part, Reich was living in Manhattan on 9/11. I’m betting he experienced the horrors of that day in a more personal way than most of those now taking umbrage at his use of the photo.  

Part of me also wants to defend the choice of the cover art precisely because of its unflinching nature. What happened on 9/11 was brutal and shocking. Sometimes I think it shouldn’t be sanitized by the removal of all documentation of the events that transpired that day. Again referring to her column, Ann Midgette expresses a similar concern, writing “…in the well-meaning wish to guard everyone’s feelings, we risk losing sight of the inherent transformative process of a work of art.”

However, I am ultimately glad the decision to replace the cover art was made. For me, it’s not so much a question of the “big picture” (i.e., the role of Art in society). I’m glad the decision was made because I believe that remembering the events of 9/11 need not push us, as a society, to abandon our compassion. It’s only been ten years. That’s not a long time. Almost everyone who witnessed the attacks around the world (and especially in the United States) can still tell you precisely where they were and exactly what they were doing when they first heard and saw the news. If someone like me, a relatively unknown composer living 850 miles away from Manhattan, can remember each minute detail of that day – how much more do the families of those who lost loved ones remember? I believe they not only recall each and every agonizing second but remember as well, each and every beautiful face that was taken away. I’m glad the decision to remove the cover art was made because it is the compassionate thing to do for those still suffering in ways that defy my comprehension.

Yes, artists need to be free to deal with large events like 9/11 as they see fit. Yes, audiences must understand that an artist is sometimes not working primarily to simply entertain them. And yes…Art is not always beautiful because what it deals with sometimes is certainly not beautiful. Yet if, as artists, we ask our audience to journey with us as we explore the dark crevices of our humanity, let us respect the fact that this can be, at times, a painful journey.

Perhaps in the future, we will be ready for a piece of music with documentary material from 9/11 that is matched with a documentary photograph of those events.

But not today.

Sanctuary

The beautiful low country.

During this time of year, those who know me primarily as a college professor often say things like, “Must be nice to have your summers off…” or words to that effect. Some of these comments are made sarcastically and others more wistfully. However, anyone who teaches for a living hears these sorts of comments often and we all share the same eye-rolling response – if only inwardly. Every teacher – from kindergarten to college professor – works untold hours, usually for demeaning wages. This work hardly ceases during the summer. The same can be said for composers. Although I compose throughout the year, it’s during the summer months that I try to double (or in the case of this summer in particular, triple) my creative output.

One of the many bike trails on Kiawah.

To be a productive composer, I often tell my students that there needs to be some sort of constant in the writing process. Usually, what I mean by this is that a composer, to work diligently and effectively, must either write daily at the same time or in the same location. Sometimes it is both. For me, that is somewhat the case. I tend to always write in my home studio and usually late in the evenings into the wee hours of the morning. Over the years, I have learned to be flexible and alter the time that I write but not so much the location. There is one notable exception to this location rule I have set for myself. The exception involves leaving Atlanta to write in a very different environment. Since it is usually impossible to take significant time away from a project, composing in a different location for some specific time, serves as a pseudo “vacation” of sorts. A change of physical surroundings also helps stimulate the old creative juices.

Good advice for island travel and for faculty meetings.

Many composers find such changes in locale through residencies in artist colonies. Personally, I find this kind of residency a bit challenging. There are three reasons for this. First, I don’t want to leave my wife and children for a very extended period of time. This was especially the case when the kids were much younger and my wife needed my help. Now my children have reached their teenage years and are a bit more self-sufficient. It now might be possible to entertain a residency at a colony except for the remaining two reasons, the second of which has to do with gigs. I am loath to turn down relatively lucrative gigs with my Greek band due to an extended residency at an artist colony. There are many gigs during the spring and summer months and these are precisely the months I’m not obligated to teach a heavy semester load. Even so – it is very tempting still to just block out a few weeks and take the hit in terms of opportunity cost for the benefit of a change of scenery and time to work exclusively on my writing. However, the third reason I still do not apply for a residency at an artist colony has to do with the fact that I already have access to a colony of sorts.

For about 20 years, my family has vacationed at Kiawah Island. My in-laws have owned a house on the island, located near Charleston, SC, for many years and it has served as the “artist colony” that would otherwise elude me. Almost half the pieces in my catalog have had a significant portion of their total length composed while on the island. I’ve recently returned from a brief stay on Kiawah and even though this particular visit was not as long as some others in the past, I still managed to complete a significant portion of a project I’m working on. Although, I retain my habit of writing late in the evening into the early hours of the morning, the change of scenery is extremely stimulating to my creative process. 

For those of us in the grind of writing everyday – and I’m a firm believer that one should write every day – working away from home in another location for some period of time is very important. Whether one applies for a residency at a beautiful artist colony or can escape to a personal “colony,” as in my case, the benefits of work away from home are significant. The change of scenery reinvigorates the creative process and, perhaps more importantly, provides the “vacation” that everyone needs from time to time. This is all accomplished without sacrificing progress in writing.

After all, no one really gets to “take the summer off…”