Young Composers Hone Their Craft at KSC
For a young composer, the journey from the creative spark to the final performance can be a challenging one. KSC’s Young Composers Institute, held from June 20-22, helped seven student composers master some of the elements along that journey. The three-day experience, guided by Keene State’s Dr. Heather Gilligan and Dr. Paul Salerni from Lehigh University, offered the students an opportunity to hear their creations played in workshop and then in a formal concert.
Dr. Gilligan, an active composer, pianist, and educator, oversees theory and composition at KSC and serves as accompanist and Composer in Residence for the Chamber Singers of Keene. She has written works for New England area musicians, including the KSC Concert Band, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Lorelai Ensemble, The Newton Symphony Orchestra, The Rivers School’s “Seminar On Contemporary Music For the Young,” and The New Trio of Brookline. Among her many professional recognitions are the Malloy Miller Prize in Composition, the Boston University Department Honor Award, and the New Hampshire Music Teachers Association Commissioned Composer.
Dr. Salerni is the NEH Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and Professor of Music at Lehigh University and the founder and artistic director of the Monocacy Chamber Orchestra, a professional ensemble in the Lehigh Valley. Dr. Salerni’s numerous commissioned orchestral and chamber music works have been performed throughout the US, Canada, Europe and China. Recent commissions include the Cape Cod Symphony, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, and Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra.
The young composers had the opportunity to work privately with each of these successful artists. Their work was then performed by Boston-based soprano Margot Rood, veteran Apple Hill Chamber violinist Moby Pearson, and Keene State College faculty Craig Sylvern (saxophone) and Jim Chesebrough (trombone). The new works were first performed in a workshop setting, giving the composers the opportunity to hear and revise their efforts. “I enjoyed the rehearsals most,” one of the students reported. “It was great to get to hear how everyone’s pieces changed and got better each day.” The students heard concerts of music by Dr. Gilligan, Dr. Salerni, and other contemporary composers, and, on the last day of the institute, Symposium faculty performed a final recital of the participant’s finished projects.
“I am very excited about the success of this first-time Young Composers Institute, and I hope to be able to offer this wonderful opportunity to high school and college students on an annual basis,” Dr. Gilligan explained. “The composition program at Keene State College has some real energy and enthusiasm right now, and we hope to capitalize on that excitement in order to build both the department and the Institute.”
