The Revenant Composer

I’m such a forgetful writer/blogger. I didn’t entirely forget I started this blog, but I did ‘forget’ to post to it in over a year. So … time for a major update!

I’m In to Mason Gross!

Last time I posted here, I was in the process of applying to the Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts graduate composition program, and had just completed my interview with the faculty there. Well … to make a long story short, I am now in my second semester of study there!

Big woohoo all around!

The process feels like it’s been forever since I first started considering the program, and at the same time it feels like just yesterday I showed up on campus for my first class last September. To begin with, there was the offer – which I was utterly overjoyed to learn of, and only too eager to accept! Then, once I confirmed my decision, there were the qualification exams.

Ohhhh, boy.

Or Am I? (Really, I Am)

Not only did I not remember a lick of music theory, I couldn’t tell my Rossini from my Puccini, and the questions were all – all – about opera, a subject I know tragically little about (but am now learning). I pitifully failed them on the first go around, but thankfully – miraculously – there was a retake, and with due studying and the sheer kindness of the program coordinator, who reviewed my wrong answers with me, I was able to pass both qualifying exams, and therefore avoid remedial studies.

Gaining Confidence as a Composer

Fast forward to September, and I’m suddenly finding myself surrounded by other extremely talented composers and musicians, most of whom far exceed my own particular skills in their chosen profession/area of study. In fact, I’m generally just very impressed with how talented my fellow composers are; folk who are in their undergraduate studies are writing music that, to me 20 years ago, would have been unthinkable.

This exposure to others perhaps – at first – reinforced my own misgivings about whether I’m ‘good enough’ for the program; I write exceptionally tonal music, and having been brought up to shun anything that might sound like a major chord, I was at first intimidated and cautious that my music would not be … accepted, for lack of a better phrase.

However, as I got used to the program, and under the tutelage of of Grammy-winning composer Robert Aldridge, I believe I’m starting to find my confidence. In fact, in a recent workshop with New York-based string quintet Sybarite5, a question came up about what our compositional ‘mission’ might be. This wasn’t something I had spent a great deal of time considering, but now that I muse on it, I think I know what I want to do. I might elaborate on this more in a future post, but essentially I want to demystify the high-brow concept of classical music.

And so, looking forward, I am excited to continue to be a part of the Mason Gross program and the Rutgers community, and to learn more about the art of composition! This is a great place for me to be, and I will endeavor to continue sharing my experience with you all.