Bruce Stark shares his vision about the composing process, he tells us why his best work seems to happen when he is not trying hard to be original or experiment.
When I say that classical music is searching for new ways or that the classical music is getting a new face, what would come to your mind?
Presenting music in a visually attractive way is clearly a strong trend. In that sense I think many musicians are trying harder to appeal to audiences with interesting visual images. Youtube has made it a standard to experience music with video.
Do you think we musicians can do something to attract young generation into the classical music concerts? How will you proceed?
I think the predominance of Youtube as a listening/watching experience influences classical musicians to be more aware of the visual aspect, and appealing to audiences in this way.
Tell us about your creative process. Do you have your favorite piece (written by you) How did you start working on it?
No, I don’t have a particular favorite among my own pieces. There is no consistent pattern of how I compose. Usually I start a piece several times before I am satisfied enough to continue. Ideas come in a variety of ways. I work at the piano for small ensemble and solo pieces that contain the piano, because the physical aspect of the movement of hands often inspires ideas. When I compose for larger ensembles such as orchestra without piano, I often compose away from the piano. I usually revise pieces after their first performance. The creative process involves a lot of time and effort, but there is also a mysterious aspect that I don’t understand; I’m thankful that ideas come to me and accept the mystery.
We, Moving Classics TV, love the combination of classical music with different disciplines: music and painting, music and cinematography, music and digital art, music and poetry. What do you think about these combinations?
History is rich in examples of music combined with other art forms. And sometimes music which was created as absolute music is then borrowed for collaboration and takes on another life as part of something else. But the value and depth of the music probably required for that composer to approach it as absolute music and not be distracted by anything else. Other pieces have as their genesis a specific image or story or collaborative project. Both are valid. Most of my music is written as pure music for the concert stage, however some of my music has a specific story or intention that can be described in words.
Every new piece I compose is a new challenge, a new experiment for me. It doesn’t have to be an experiment with a new musical language or theoretical approach. Just the challenge of creating a good new work of the highest quality I am capable of is plenty of challenge and experimentation. My best work seems to happen when I am not trying hard to be original or experiment. It is a more natural, organic process, though it involves a great deal of self-criticism to produce something I am happy with.
Music is not a career, hobby, or interest of mine, rather it is an extension of me. It is the way that I most easily and effectively convey my innermost feelings. When I view something beautiful, experience something painful, or
hear about something inspirational, I immediate react in a musical fashion.So, in short, music for me is about a perfect communication, far beyond words.
Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?
While music can certainly be about fantasy, it is oftentimes very “real.” One can compose about historical things without having ever been there. The event is “real” but the “fantasy” of transporting one back there is what music can do very effectively.
If you were not a professional musician, would would you have been?
If I hadn’t followed my dreams of becoming a musician, I would have pursued my other passion of architecture.
The classical music audience is getting old, are you worried about your future?
There has never been a time in human history without music. I think it is impossible for humans to exist without musical expression. However, musical tastes evolve and morph and I see that happening now. So, while classical music seems to be aging with those who attend classical concerts, a new generation is enjoying a renaissance of classically-tinged music in films, video games, and in pop music. In short, I see the lines blurring between musical genres. I don’t worry about my future as long as I continue to evolve with these changes.
What do you envision the role of classical music to be in the 21 century? Do you see that there is a transformation of this role?
I think the role of classical music is what it has always been and that is to reflect nature, capture human emotion, communicate deep emotion, and remind us that we’re “human.” After all the origin of the term “humanities” is derived from
the Renaissance Latin expression studia humanitatis, or “study of humanitas” (a classical Latin word meaning—in addition to “humanity” — “culture, refinement, education” and, specifically, an “education befitting a cultivated man”).
When I say that classical music is searching for new ways or that the classical music is getting a new face, what would come to your mind?
What comes to my mind is seeing the once-hap-empty orchestra concerts halls now full of young 20-year-olds who have come to hear the orchestra play music from their favorite video game. Of course, classical purists may grimace and say, “That isn’t classical music,” but the problem lies in the definition of the term. Throughout history people have argued about popular of folk music versus classical or academic music.
Do you think that the classical musician today needs to be more creative? Whats the role of creativity in the musical process for you?
Besides being “creative” in the composing process, musicians also need to be creative in disseminating the music and gathering fans and an audience. Rather than waiting for King Leopold to order a new symphony (as was the case with
Mozart) or waiting for a big-money benefactor to want to publish music (as was done with Beethoven), we contemporary classical composers need to utilize social media, combine mediums (like film, TV, dance, etc), and other such “creative” new ways to raise awareness for our style and genre of music.
Do you think we musicians can do something to attract young generation into the classical music concerts? How will you proceed?
This question has been covered in part in #6 but I would also add that now is a wonderful time to re-purpose old approaches to concerts. I remember playing virtual concerts in the online world of Second Life. While I could only have 20-50 people in the “virtual” audience, there were, in fact, actual people logged in from around the world and if they liked what they heard, they could actually “tip” the performance. In fact, what you are doing on Moving Classics TV is exactly
what I am talking about. I would imagine that thousands of people have become your “audience” and this will be a channel through which to market and encourage classical music.
Tell us about your creative process. Do you have your favourite piece (written by you) How did you start working on it?
One of my favorite compositions was a choral piece that I wrote out of frustration over the civil war in the former country of Yugoslavia. I was so sad to see children become the victims of such a horrendous conflict that I composed an A Cappella
piece dedicated to them. The composing process in this case began with an aching feeling which I had to express musically. If you hear the first phrase of the song (envisioned without words) you will hear the first thing that I composed. It was like a sad “sigh” which eventually become the sung words, “Can you hear the prayer of the children?” Then I imagined the song to deal with the various senses a child would use to experience the war there - sight, feeling, etc. so the song follows that approach. While I am mostly an “instrumental” composer, when I write lyrics or a libretto I do so in tandem with the music. “Prayer of the Children” continues to be sung by choirs around the world and always dedicated to children and so my ultimate goal was realized - to spread peace amidst war to supplant hate with love.
We, Moving Classics TV, love the combination of classical music with different disciplines: music and painting, music and cinematography, music and digital art, music and poetry. What do you think about these combinations?
As a composer who has written music for ballet, ballroom dance, numerous films, etc. I couldn’t agree more.
Can you give some advice for young people who want to discover classical music for themselves?
Well, the very first thing I tell people of all ages who want to discover classical music is to 1) listen, listen LISTEN (and not just to MP3s but to live music as much as possible 2) Keep your ears open especially to things you think you don’t like. 3) Get “inside” the music by looking at scores, listen or read what the composer intended, and discuss this with fellow listeners.
Now it is a common practice in the media to talk that the classical music is getting into the consumption business, do you agree? We are speaking about the supply and demand rules and how to sell your “product” in your case your compositions. How do you see it?
Classical music and its composers have always needed money and that, in large part, has driven their pursuits.
I see nothing wrong with that. Yes, it sometimes encourages musicians to pander to the lowest common denominator, but it doesn’t need to. Composers from Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to Debussy, Rachmaninov, and Copeland have all chased money in order to pay their bills but to also keep their passion of music alive.
Do you have expectations what regards your listeners, your audience?
I demand nothing of my audience although I hope they will “open their ears” and give my music a chance to speak to them. I know I can’t please all the people and so I don’t try to do that. My most successful compositions have been those that were just pleasing to me. They were written authentically and with no financial or success motivation. And yet, they ended up being the ones that sold the most downloads, CDs, or sheet music.
What projects are coming up? Do you experiment in your projects?
I am currently arranging music for a violinist named Jenny Oaks Baker which I will record in September. And, I am also publishing hundreds of my pieces in sheet music form which is a long-term project. As for experimentation in my projects, I always try to do something a little “new” or “edgy” in my pieces. While audiences sometimes want me to reprise what I have done before, I try to challenge them with a “new” side of me.
Music expresses emotions that cannot be put into precise words. What I could never express in spoken language, I can very quickly share with notes and harmonies.
Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?
I’m not sure if I would agree with that or not, depending on how you are thinking about music and fantasy. In some cases, music is very much about reality. For example, the “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima” or the musical “Allegiance”—both about very real things that need to be given our attention. That said, while the messages of such works are about reality, the medium of the messages is the fantasy that the music plants into the listener’s mind. Music creates visions and emotions which are both real (they certainly exist in our minds) and illusory (when we are gone, so are those visions and emotions).
If you were not a professional musician, would would you have been?
I’ve been a professional graphic designer and a web developer far more than I’ve been a professional musician. However, if I had the chance to start it all over again, I could imagine being a therapist, counselor, or life coach. My motivation in music, web development, and life is to make people feel better and be less upset and stressed, so coaching could definitely be a more direct way to help with that effort.
The classical music audience is getting old, are you worried about your future?
No, because I think the younger audience is hungry for a more personal connection with music and performers. Young people today are so “used to” and jaded with ( so “over”?) our constant inundation with music from impersonal online music streams and channels. A live, acoustic performance with one or more person using physical instruments to create sound is both more personal and more meaningful than hearing a track off a smartphone, even with the world’s best headphones.
What do you envision the role of classical music to be in the 21 century? Do you see that there is a transformation of this role?
I see quite a bit more chamber and live performing happening. Again, it is more personal and… visceral? … than getting streaming music off of a mobile device or a computer. As our community seems to get more and more wrapped up in “the cloud” we are losing our interpersonal connections, and I think that people—especially younger people—are discovering music as a way of connecting, in person, again.
When I say that classical music is searching for new ways or that the classical music is getting a new face, what would come to your mind?
Groups like Portland’s “Sound of Late” come to mind. This is an ensemble of young musicians who want to play and share new “composed” music in its many incarnations. Their “48-hour Composition Contest” brought together around two dozen composers and performers to create and play an entire concert of new pieces that had not even existed 10 days before the concert date. It was amazing and moving, and inspiring, and the performance happened in a local Portland restaurant and bar, NOT in a concert hall.
Do you think that the classical musician today needs to be more creative? What’s the role of creativity in the musical process for you?
I don’t think anyone has to be “more creative” than in the past. I also don’t think it makes sense to try to force more creativity out of people, or to make today’s artists feel that there is some burden of additional creativity on them. Circumstances, limitations and necessity inspire and incubate creativity, but trying to be creative intentionally, that often leads to results that look creative but are really just a manufactured product. In my experience, pushing for creativity—for example, saying things like “You have to think outside the box!”—will create some extreme ideas, but those ideas may not actually work well when they have to become reality. To me, often the biggest creative breakthroughs are very small, incremental ideas that almost seem to be nothing at the moment that they happen, and only are seen as truly creative in hindsight.
Do you think we musicians can do something to attract young generation into the classical music concerts? How will you proceed?
For one, our local community orchestra (the Tualatin Valley Symphony - tualatinvalleysymphony.org) does a “Family Concert” each year now, designed to encourage parents to bring their children to the concert. I arranged one of my pieces for the orchestra and answered audience questions after my piece was played. That orchestra also just premiered an overture I composed for the City of Tualatin, and the music references the history of the City and the region. I hope to make the recording available to local classrooms with a set of program notes that teachers can use to discuss how the music represents each different part of our local history, both in instrumentation (French horns musically imitating the calls of ancient mastodons) and in style (music written in the style of the native people who lived here hundreds of years ago).
Tell us about your creative process. Do you have your favourite piece (written by you) How did you start working on it?
As is often the case, my favourite piece is the last piece that I composed, which is (again) the orchestral Tualatin Overture. This piece started with the suggestion that I compose a piece for the Tualatin Valley Symphony’s May 2017 concert, and I started thinking about what a “Tualatin Overture” would be. I used my technique of making the letters of a word into notes (Tualatin=FGAEAFBG). Then I started studying about the city and its history (which is pretty impressive) and working to figure out how to musically represent things like huge Ice Age floods and giant prehistoric animals in a concert work.
My favorite work for solo piano is still “Sky in Motion” which I composed for my MuseScore friend, composer Sepehr Keyhani. I started with the letters of his name to create the main motif (Sepehr=EEBEAD) and sort of let the music create itself from that seed.
We, Moving Classics TV, love the combination of classical music with different disciplines: music and painting, music and cinematography, music and digital art, music and poetry. What do you think about these combinations?
One of my earliest musical inspirations was seeing the original Star Wars in the theater. That movie is probably the ultimate fusion of cinematography and classical music. I have a project in mind to pair wine tasting and musical composition, having multiple composers create short pieces that are inspired by a certain wine, then having live performers play that piece as the audience tastes that wine.
Can you give some advice for young people who want to discover classical music for themselves?
- Be willing to listen to everything twice, because often we won’t catch everything the first time we experience it. - Never feel that you have to listen to music that you just don’t enjoy. - Seek out music that is NOT in the popular repertoire, even obscure music by big names. (For example, I recently discovered Beethoven’s string trios; I’ve never seen them on a program, and they’re delightful!) - Find living composers you like online and communicate with them about their music; ask them which composers and musical works inspired them, and then go listen to those works.
Now it is a common practice in the media to talk that the classical music is getting into the consumption business, do you agree? We are speaking about the supply and demand rules and how to sell your “product” in your case your compositions. How do you see it?
Fortunately I see that composers and performers are starting to think in terms of succeeding outside of the traditional music “industry” as it has existed in the past. “Supply and demand” rules seems to imply “mass production” or “mass market” and in my experience, composers and performers today are moving in the opposite direction. Today, artists are creating new niches and being happy with “smaller” audiences (smaller being relative: you don’t need to have a multi-million-dollar hit to earn enough money to survive; rather you can have a smaller number of dedicated fans and still make a very respectable income. There are even online resources like “Patreon” that help artists build a base of small financial patrons. Of course, the artists still need to “supply” for the “demand” that they create for their patrons, but it’s more about “micro-economies” rather than trying to “break into the music business” in order to be a success.
Do you have expectations what regards your listeners, your audience?
Interestingly, I have more expectations of myself than I do for my listeners. As a composer, it is my responsibility to create a bridge between my music and the listener. To me that includes providing a musical and rhythmic framework that the audience can use as a foundation. I may choose to depart from that framework, but to me, that sort of foundation works as a “home base” for my audience. The audience is entrusting me with their time—a limited and precious resource—and it is important that they not go away feeling that I wasted it.
What projects are coming up? Do you experiment in your projects?
I’m just finishing a “wordless lullaby” for Mezzosoprano Megan Ihnen. This was challenging for me as I have not done much vocal music recently, and the piece also uses vowels and consonants—though not in the form of actual words—as part of the music. Then I have a cello and piano piece to compose for a patron.
I definitely experiment, but in small ways. I experiment with notes and rhythms, trying to do something that is simultaneously familiar and surprising. I’m definitely not what you’d call an “experimental” composer, by any stretch of the imagination!
Jennifer Thomas talks about why creativity is everything to her and that if young people want to go into Classical music as a career, there are so many things you can do with it other than teaching or performing.
For me, music is a form of expression. And since I am not just a performer, but a composer as well – it goes even deeper because the music I am sharing with the world comes from a place within me that bares my very soul. When I “offer” my music to the world, it is like offering a piece of myself – my pride and joy, my greatest work and expression of the world inside myself, my heart, and my mind.
Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?
This is an interesting notion. I suppose that a lot of why we listen to music is to escape, to take our minds to another place. We want something to make us feel more than we can conjure up on our own. But music is also a very real form of realism, sometimes to what is current in our lives or in the world. Out of the darkest times in history have come some of the greatest pieces of art – both for the sake of interpretation, and also escape to a fantasy world.
If you were not a professional musician, would would you have been?
I love video editing, and so definitely I would have tried to go into professional film editing. Fortunately I still do get to do quite a bit of this with my music career as well. I’ve done a lot of editing for content on my Youtube channel over the years, but typically had a professional editor handle my official music videos. But I recently had the opportunity to finally edit one of my music videos for my channel, and it was a great joy to do that. I look forward to doing more, and continuing to improve my skills in that area.
The classical music audience is getting old, are you worried about your future?
I think that the future of Classical music is already on it’s way to finally integrating itself into a more modern way of living and breathing, and because of this it’s finding a younger audience. As more orchestras start streaming their concerts live online, performing music from living and modern composers, and also collaborating with artists that aren’t just inside the Classical world – it will continue to thrive.
Here in Seattle, the Seattle Symphony has had a tradition of performing the film score from The Lord of the Rings films in concert every summer (composed by Howard Shore), while projecting scenes and images from the movie on a gigantic screen for the audience. I know that this has been one of their biggest selling concerts of the season, year after year. They have also collaborated with modern artists from pop to rap, and the audience has found it quite refreshing to see classical renditions of pop songs. To know that these types of concerts do quite well is easy to see that today’s audience is yearning for a more modern concert program that pleases a wider audience.
What do you envision the role of classical music to be in the 21 century? Do you see that there is a transformation of this role?
Well, I think that there is a give-and-take situation going on with Classical music at the moment. While many popular artists are creating music with Classical influence and bringing that music into the limelight, Classical music is also taking a thing or two from the modern world and integrating that as well.
As far as the role it will play, I hope that it continues to be a strong influence and a foundation in the world of music. Even though the way it is being presented is ever-changing, the fact remains that the music is there and will hopefully always be so.
When I say that classical music is searching for new ways or that the classical music is getting a new face, what would come to your mind?
Well, to be honest what first comes to mind is my entire way of approaching my own music and composition process. I started lessons on both piano and violin at age 5 and continued all the way through college. I endured years of adjudications, competitions, chair auditions, concerto competitions, and more. I remember it actually being quite stressful.
Eventually I found my own way through the Classical music world and realized that I could take these skills I had worked so hard on for so many years and actually create new music, and modern music at that. I feel like what I am doing with my own music today is giving Classical music a new face. I am taking the foundation I have in Classical, and creating new music for the new generation that hopefully not only appeals to the younger generation but to the older Classical lovers as well (well, maybe not the purists, ha). And it is not just me, there are several other artists out there right now doing the same thing- from 2Cellos, The Piano Guys, Tina Guo, and many others – we are modernizing a genre of music and making it more accessible. There are those in the younger generations who are now being introduced to Classical music through our music, who might otherwise not be.
Do you think that the classical musician today needs to be more creative? What’s the role of creativity in the musical process for you?
Yes. I do think that Classical musicians need to be more creative. I think that more originality needs to happen, and less imitation. People are tired of hearing the same set of standard classics over and over, they want to hear fresh new music or fresh interpretations.
The role of creativity for me is EVERYTHING. As a composer, I need it. Without it, my music has no life. For me, sometimes it involves taking time to be in the outdoors and enjoy the beauty of the forest, or the ocean – and then the music starts to trickle into my mind in the form of ideas, styles, and more.
I think music is so much more than just an auditory experience. It’s visual, emotional, physical, and spiritual. I think the only thing it isn’t is physically tangeable but perhaps that will even change – maybe one day someone will create a virtual reality app where you can see, hear, and feel what a pianist experiences while performing a Beethoven Sonata.
Do you think we musicians can do something to attract young generation into the classical music concerts? How will you proceed?
I think it has everything to do with the choice of music that is on a concert program, and how it’s presented. The Classical purist in me says “Stick to the format of the past.” But the modern composer in me says “Don’t forget to add some content that appeals in a more popular way.” And I know that is sometimes hard to digest for the Classical music world that have done things a certain way for so long.
When I put out an album, I would say 90% of the songs are ones I wrote and chose because I loved them and wanted them on the album. But the other 10%? Definitely there because of popular vote and what my audience wants to hear – even if it’s not exactly what I think it should be, or even what I think will do well. But in my experience, it’s the 10% that sometimes gets people in the door to one of my concerts, or attracts them to buy one of my albums - and then they stick around long after.
Tell us about your creative process. Do you have your favourite piece (written by you) How did you start working on it?
One of my own favorites from my compositions is a piece that I wrote called “Eventide” from my Illumination album. When I wrote the song, I had an 11 month old and a 3 year old, and my husband was working long hours. So in the evenings, after the day was over and I finally had an opportunity to sit down at the piano, it was my time to relax, meditate, and wash the day away.
At the time, my piano was positioned in a big bay window where I could see the entire starry sky if I looked up and out. It was quite beautiful, and I found many moments of peace and tranquility from my late night piano sessions. This song came from one of those, and while it is a very simple song, it is very emotional for me. I orchestrated it with strings and choir, and actually right before I was getting ready to send it off to my mixing engineer, I was listening to it late at night while driving in my car. I kept humming the theme from Sheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov) with it, and eventually was inspired to add a violin solo to it that plays that theme. It was a perfect match – and just by the way, a great example of how classical music can be used in modern music in new ways.
The song has ended up being one of my more popular songs on Pandora Radio, and I still use it as an un-winding song in the evenings.
We, Moving Classics TV, love the combination of classical music with different disciplines: music and painting, music and cinematography, music and digital art, music and poetry. What do you think about these combinations?
Oh goodness, I LOVE them all. I feel like music is essential in creating an emotional presence, and brings so much more to these other forms of art as well. I have scored a few films and it’s amazing when a director gives me a cut of a film with no music and allows me to watch it and feel inspired and be able to add music to it that will hopefully have an impact on the audience in a certain way. I especially love music and dance, of course. It is one of the most beautiful combinations in my opinion.
Can you give some advice for young people who want to discover classical music for themselves?
Yes! Well for starters, I think perhaps young people have heard quite a lot of Classical music without actually knowing it. From cartoons like Bugs Bunny (the use of Wagner), to commercials about beef (Copeland), or Disney films like Sleeping Beauty (Tchaikovsky) – they have already heard quite a bit but just don’t associate it with “Classical music”. This is a great starting point – to realize that Classical music doesn’t have to be sitting in a concert hall, or made to feel rigid or boring. It’s exciting, and beautiful, and there for the exploration and taking!
Again, I would also suggest finding modern artists who are using classical music as an influence and if they happened to find a particular song catchy or exciting, they can search more about that song and learn about it and listen to it in it’s pure original form. As I mentioned before, there are many of us Classical-Crossover artists out there who are performing Classical works in a new and modern way – and opening up the doors into this world for the younger generation who might not otherwise have an interest.
Also, lastly, I feel it’s important for younger people to know that if you do want to get into Classical music as a career, there are so many things you can do with it other than teaching or performing. When I was in school, it seemed to be the emphasis and I had to choose between them, but now there are so many more options from engineering, producing, and so much more.
Now it is a common practice in the media to talk that the classical music is getting into the consumption business, do you agree? We are speaking about the supply and demand rules and how to sell your “product” in your case your compositions. How do you see it?
Well, this is an interesting topic, and it might vary a bit for me as a modern composer/recording artist (so I can’t speak directly for Classical musicians). But yes, I definitely have experienced a “supply and demand” pressure – from making sure your album has certain content or criteria – for example, to meet a certain chart for placement on your debut release week. However, in my experience in the end it also doesn’t make too much of a difference. Whether one debuts at #1 on the Classical music charts, or doesn’t chart at all – it doesn’t win anyone an award, or make them more money.
There is also a huge supply-and-demand right now for cover songs, whether it’s a cover of a pop song, or a cover of a film soundtrack, or Broadway play. It seems to be sort of a necessity that every artist do at least one cover in their repertoire. I too have followed this trend on one or two occasions (I recently released a cover of the Prologue music from Beauty and the Beast). However, don’t throw rocks at me but this is a trend that I personally would like to see a little less of, and see more original content arising out of the woodworks. But again….supply and demand. And sometimes this is part of that 10% I talked about that gets people through the door, and hopefully afterward you can let them fall in love with your own original work.
More than anything, I think we as artists should really concentrate on just making the absolute best music that we can and staying true to our own artistic vision.
Do you have expectations what regards your listeners, your audience?
I’m not sure I completely understand this question, but I’ll take a stab at it. If you are asking me what, if any, expectations I have from my listeners/audience –and I think I speak for all artists and musicians, we just really appreciate those who genuinely appreciate what we are doing. The little compliments, a note, a message, an Amazon review outlining what they specifically enjoyed about a song. These things actually mean a LOT to us. People who go out of their way to make sure I know that the music I am “offering” to the world has an impact and is meaningful – gives me SO much joy and motivation to continue making more.
What projects are coming up? Do you experiment in your projects?
Right now I am finishing up a project that delves into a new genre for me – as I’m working with a talented spoken word/rapper from the Los Angeles area. I can’t be quite certain if one would even classify it as “rap”, but definitely more along the lines of poetry being said very rhythmically. I have composed a very epic orchestral song, in which he has written lyrics and we will be filming a music video for it this summer. We plan to release it as part of the 4th of July celebrations here in the U.S.
I’m also re-writing and re-orchestrating one of my first originals (off of my debut album), which was inspired by the MacDowell 2nd Piano Concerto, and will be filming a music video for that this summer. We are hoping to find a beach where we can put my grand piano and film some lovely ocean waves.
And then for the remainder of the year until next, I will be turning into a hermit and saying no to most projects as I work on creating a new album that I’m hoping to release by mid-2018. One of the major works on this new album is a two-piano duet that I’ve co-written with a talented pianist named Kimberly StarKey. It is written in the style of a modern short double piano concerto, and we will be recording with the Ensign Symphony and filming a video for that as well early next year.
Thank you for having me here, it’s been a pleasure to talk about the Classical music world and how it is transforming, and also effecting me as a modern Classical composer/performer!
Greg Sandow gives insights into his art and explains why the music is powerfully expressive. He tells about a new trend in the US to bring music into the community.
I have no idea how to answer that! But maybe I could say that of course music is powerfully expressive. Though that’s pretty obvious. Beyond that, I have two special, personal ways of relating to music. First, any music is in some way a construction. Sounds happen. Both horizontally (so to speak) and vertically. One sound after another, and also many sounds at once. How they fit together fascinates me. It’s something all kinds of music have in common — that sounds happen, and they fit together in countless ways.
Then, second, music is a powerful expression of culture. I’ve been involved, as audience or professional, with some powerful times when new kinds of music evolved. All of them expressing something new going on in the culture. The rise of rock & roll in the 1950s, the rise of ‘60s rock in the ‘60s, the emergence of minimalism in the 1970s and 1980s, the explosion of punk in the ‘70s, the rise of hiphop. Such energy in all of these movements! And quite apart from the new things in the culture that all of these styles expressed, all of them evolved new ways in which music was constructed. Heaven for me to go deep into all of it.
Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?
I wouldn’t want to say what music is about. That varies for different people. But of course there’s a strong imaginative element in it! And if any of us want to call that fantasy, it’s fine with me.
If you were not a professional musician, would would you have been?
I might have been a lawyer, or (something I’ve dreamed about) a filmmaker.
The classical music audience is getting old, are you worried about your future?
I don’t worry about my future, since I’m 73. But I do worry about the future of the field. The audience is slowly slipping away. In Washington DC, where I live, big classical performances now routinely play to half-empty houses. So obviously classical music needs to change! And it is changing, but up to now I don’t think the changes have brought us to a place where classical music can sustain itself financially in new ways, and give many musicians a chance to make a living. Once that evolves, the future is ours.
What do you envision the role of classical music to be in the 21 century? Do you see that there is a transformation of this role?
I think classical music will become a contemporary form of art and entertainment. it’s important to say that some of it will be entertainment, because much of it was entertainment in classical music’s past! That means that much of the music played at classical performances will be new. And it will sound and feel like the other music people listen to today, meaning that some of it will have a beat, and will be strongly blended with pop (in its many forms) and hiphop and world music.
When I say that classical music is searching for new ways or that the classical music is getting a new face, what would come to your mind?
Since I’ve made a career of helping classical music find its future, I know many ways in which classical music is getting a new face. Informal performances, performances in clubs, musicians talking to their audience (which used to be just about forbidden). Blends of classical music and pop. And all kinds of wonderful creative projects, like one at the University of Maryland, in the US, where musicians in the student orchestra played Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun from memory, dancing the music while they played it! There’s a beautiful video of that on YouTube. I was at the performance. One of the most thrilling moments I’ve had in music.
In the US, there’s also a strong trend to play classical music in the community. This is valuable, because it takes it out of the concert hall, and brings it to people in the places where they live, work, and play. It also connects music with important social causes.
But there’s a bad side to this. Community service is wonderful, but it’s not the same thing as art. Art often challenges the world. If we always aim classical music to please a community audience, then we’ve lost our souls as artists. The artists who’ve most strongly inspired me —Verdi, Mahler, Bob Dylan, Stravinsky, in literature Proust and Samuel Beckett, in film Truffaut, Godard, and Antonioni — never did anything in the community. They made their art, and the world came to them.
Do you think that the classical musician today needs to be more creative? Whats the role of creativity in the musical process for you?
Yes, classical music needs to be much more creative. One problem in concert halls and opera houses is that they do the same pieces over and over again. So a sense of routine sets in. There’s very little discovery in most of those performances. Everyone knows what to expect. This isn’t always true — sometimes a performance of a familiar piece can be a complete revelation.
The schools where classical musicians learn to be professionals are, as a rule, terribly uncreative. The musicians learn their craft. But they aren’t asked to think about who they are as artists. That’s a terrible loss. For me, of course music is creative. And of course, everyone has their own way of doing music.
Do you think we musicians can do something to attract young generation into the classical music concerts? How will you proceed?
There are many things that can be done. Many things that have been done! But I think there are two very basic things to think about. First, the concerts should be informal. Or maybe beautifully designed, enveloping, with an environment created for the music. But the key is that the performance space should feel nothing at all like a classical concert hall.
Then, second, when we talk about the music we’re doing, we should talk about why we love it. We should be very personal. Talk about specific moments in a piece, and why we find them exciting, emotional, frightening, whatever. Talk about how we feel when we play (or in my case, compose). If we present our music as a personal expression, other people can immediately relate. They don’t have to know about the music. They just have to respond to our love of it.
Tell us about your creative process. Do you have your favourite piece (written by you) How did you start working on it?
One of my favorite pieces — pieces I’ve written — is called Mahler Variations, played by a string quartet. It’s a set of variations on the beginning of the last movement of Mahler’s Third Symphony. “Set of variations” means that first the string quartet plays the theme, as Mahler wrote it. And then I write more than 20 short pieces that refer back to the theme in various ways, which in classical music language means that they’re variations on it.
I began simply by arranging Mahler’s music, which wasn’t easy! He uses a full string orchestra, divided into more than the four parts available for string quartet. So I had to condense what he wrote, somehow trying to make the same effect.
Then I got stuck! And repeatedly got stuck, as I made my way through my composing. I got so stuck, so many times, that I added a quotation from Samuel Beckett to the beginning of the piece: “I can’t go on, I’ll go on.”
One expression of getting stuck was that there are many silences in the piece, moments when the music simply stops. The final silence is in a way the climax of the piece. It lasts as long as the musicians want it to, but I suggest that it be at least two minutes long! After that, the way the conclusion of the piece grows out of that silence is (to me) just magical.
We, Moving Classics TV, love the combination of classical music with different disciplines: music and painting, music and cinematography, music and digital art, music and poetry. What do you think about these combinations?
Of course they work! And of course they’ve often been done. Almost any film has music on its soundtrack, pop songs have videos. Dance is most often choreographed to music. Maybe what’s new in our time is taking classical piece that are normally played just as music, and linking them to other arts. But anywhere outside classical music, that would be seen as a natural thing to do. So why shouldn’t it be natural for us?
Can you give some advice for young people who want to discover classical music for themselves?
They should never feel apologetic, because they don’t know classical music already. And they should never feel intimidated, never feel they need any special knowledge. All they need is open ears and an open mind. That said, it’s hard to know where to start. We can stream just about any classical music we want, but if someone doesn’t know about it, how can they find something they might like? And if they want to hear one of the great classics, there are so many recordings of each one! How can they pick? As one way through this, I’d suggest beginning with Steve Reich, Bach, and, for something truly titanic and enveloping, Mahler’s second or third symphony. For Steve Reich, I’d pick Music for 18 Musicians. For Bach, piano music played by Simone Dinnerstein or Glenn Gould. For Mahler, a recording with Leonard Bernstein conducting. This can be a start!
Now it is a common practice in the media to talk that the classical music is getting into the consumption business, do you agree? We are speaking about the supply and demand rules and how to sell your “product” in your case your compositions. How do you see it?
Well, of course we’re in the consumption business, and we always have been. People have to learn that our music is here, and we have to get them interested in hearing it. Words like product aren’t popular in the #classical music world, because we like to pretend we’re above these things. But if we want to have an audience — and, even more, if we want to make a living from our music — we have to understand that we’re doing business in the musical marketplace.
Do you have expectations what regards your listeners, your audience?
I’d like my audience to be thoughtful people, who don’t normally listen to classical music. To be clear about this, I in fact don’t care whether they’re classical music listeners or not. I just want people with lots of curiosity and passionate interest, involving many things in their lives. But since most people aren’t classical music listeners, then if I want to have a representative group from the world around me, most of them wouldn’t listen normally to classical music. That thought also widens my horizons musically,.
What projects are coming up? Do you experiment in your projects?
Every project is an experiment. I never know where they’re going to go, even if I think I do. So I’m always surprised. My upcoming project might be a simple arrangement of a lyrical excerpt from one of my operas. Turning it into a lyrical piano piece, which I hope Anna will play. But even this is an experiment, because I don’t know how to start it! The segue into this music, as it happens in the opera, isn’t possible in a short piano piece. So I’ll have to think of something new.
A celebration of the synthesis between dance form and instrument. The Saltarello is a historic Renaissance dance expressed by jumping to a downbeat, which can be done in groups. As I began this composition, that was pretty much it. But shortly, the spirit of the piano began taking over. It had something to interject into the dance, most certainly. So I let it. The result was a more developed journey through that dance, creating a bit of a short story.
Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?
Only inasmuch as fantasy can be a way to describe visualization, which is a vital part of magic. I believe that creating and performing music is a magical act.
If you were not a professional musician, would would you have been?
A sculptor.
The classical music audience is getting old, are you worried about your future?
No. I am constantly amazed and sustained, that younger people are flocking to classical music to a degree not even their parents did.
What do you envision the role of classical music to be in the 21 century? Do you see that there is a transformation of this role?
There is a role, but it would be a mistake to confuse it with its role in the age of its birth. The world is no longer the political, cultural and sociological place it was then. Modern classical music hobbyists don’t so much play to the music, but the experience which motivated it’s creation in the past. The drip drip drip of a gloomy rainy Paris day that coaxed Chopin to write rainy preludes. Billowy shirts and quill pens, candlelight and parchment scores. Therefore it would be probably delusional to think that we are recreating this Great Age. However, in writing modern classical music we are pulling from the pool of that experience, and creating based on the tremendous spiritual energies that fomented the music the first time. That, to me, is the true Enlightenment.
When I say that classical music is searching for new ways or that the classical music is getting a new face, what would come to your mind?
Arvo Paart. He snatched the spirit of the classical era but gilded it in his own style and expression. He made classical, new.
Do you think that the classical musician today needs to be more creative? Whats the role of creativity in the musical process for you?
Yes, it’s everything. Simply studying Bach counterpoint and reproducing it may give someone a head rush, but it won’t amount to art in the end. It would be derivative at most.
Do you think we musicians can do something to attract young generation into the classical music concerts? How will you proceed?
By assisting project performances with younger performers. They usually go where others of their age go, and will show up to support them if they are performing. American Classical Idol?
Tell us about your creative process. Do you have your favourite piece (written by you) How did you start working on it?
For me it all starts with a melodic phrase. It might sound strange, but it must survive the “Night Cycle”. I don’t allow myself to jump up and write it. I sleep on it for one night. If I remember it easily the next day and it still moves me, it gets developed.
I do have a favorite original piece - “Fantasy For a Lost Grotto”. I was musing about the idea behind Debussy’s work “The Sunken Cathedral”. Something sublime, underwater and forgotten. A melody surfaced and quickly morphed into phases of itself, that ended up being a musical novelette.
We, Moving Classics TV, love the combination of classical music with different disciplines: music and painting, music and cinematography, music and digital art, music and poetry. What do you think about these combinations?
Sounds wonderful! I have been hired for years to play classical piano for local dance studios and their teachers, students and aspiring professionals to practice their “free form”. I know they also often use musicians to accompany live model art classes. It’s a wonderful idea to take much further.
Can you give some advice for young people who want to discover classical music for themselves?
Go to live local performances. They happen everywhere I have ever lived, you just have to keep your eyes and ears open. Classical music is a living art form and it still breathes if you stay aware. Attend several, hopefully of different styles and cultures. Determine what is a fit for you, and what is not.
Now it is a common practice in the media to talk that the classical music is getting into the consumption business, do you agree? We are speaking about the supply and demand rules and how to sell your “product” in your case your compositions. How do you see it?
Unfortunately that is true, and I see it as the inevitable crass marketization of our time. In visual art we used to call this “art by the pound [as a unit of weight]“. Many orchestras only plan seasons by the number of people they might draw rather than the more sublime value of the music they are considering. Composition “contests” are fleecing composers for the benefit of contests which rely on their version of “likes” or popular votes rather than the judgment of peers. We do live in the world of matter, and in an economy. We have to live and pay our bills. But, the great thing about art is it’s value as more than a commodity. The minute that it is seen that way, it dies as art.
Do you have expectations what regards your listeners, your audience?
That they, at least, listen. They don’t have to like it, but at least give it an ear. iPhones off, please.
What projects are coming up? Do you experiment in your projects?
I’m currently developing a three keyboard performance on the idea of The Lost Civiilization of Lemuria, something very popular here in my home on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Highly experimental, as it utilizes our island habit of music for meditative and visualization purposes. Audiences will often “trance out” and it may give you the wrong impression that they are sleeping.
Louis Anthony gives advice: "Be great at what you do, make interesting, creative music, look fantastic and interesting, and use every tool available to share your musical message with as many persons as possible!"
Music is now and has always been at the core of my existence. Since I was a young boy, music has been there to provide me comfort when I was sad or lonely, a way to express my joy and love and an object that I can study endlessly.
Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?
Yes, music is always a fantasy. For me, music comes like a dream—it is always spontaneous and coming from my unconscious. Even when I am composing more “academic music,” music where I am working within a certain formal structure or when I’ve decided to work with certain pitch collections, for instance, the actual music making takes place “in the back of my mind.” In that way, for me music is a fantasy or a dream.
If you were not a professional musician, what would you have been?
I am very interested in law and politics, so perhaps I would be an attorney or a politician, although I am generally to be too outspoken to be a diplomat! (LOL)
The classical music audience is getting old, are you worried about your future?
Yes, a bit.
Classical music is a museum piece. There may always be musical artists who want to perform the big hits from the classical repertoire, and that’s a wonderful thing to do. But, two things occur to me: First, there are so many more great masterworks that are never performed—they should be; Second, composers and performing artists need to make music that younger listeners want to hear!
What do you envision the role for classical music to be in the 21 century? Do you see that there will be a transformation of this role?
I believe that classical music will remain in the lives of 21st century persons and will remain as it has been: an “entertainment.” The degree of popularity will be what is transformational, or truly—the degree to which composers transform their concert music will determine its popularity.
We are travelers in what is the best time for musicians and also the worst! The great thing about “now” for concert musical artists is that we can literally hear ANYTHING we want. As a student in the conservatory, I sometimes couldn’t afford to purchase recordings or attend all the concerts I wanted to attend. Now, we can access anything through streaming.
At the same time, there is so little money forthcoming for composers and performers that is derived from the Internet. This is a miserable feature of a wonderfully helpful tool!
Then, there is the central issue that the vast majority of the public simply doesn’t prefer to listen to concert music. If composers want to be heard, then their art music must be listenable and interesting to more than just a handful of like-minded academics. And, if artist performers want to become well known, they must do much more than simply polish some old musical gems.
When I say that classical music is searching for new ways or that the classical music is getting a new face, what would come to mind?
I think instantly that so few musicians do what you are doing! Most simply are content trying to “polish the old gems.” Most do not use social media, as do you, to create an audience, most, unlike you, do not perform all sorts of newly composed music. Brava, Anna!
Do you think that the classical musician today needs to be more creative? What is the role of creativity in the musical process for you?
Yes! Today’s musician needs to be very, very creative. Not only in the music they make, but also in how they manage to make a living from music. Musicians have always needed to be creative, but today I think the competition is so fierce, the distractions from other entertainments so many, the level of performance so high, and the number of aspiring musicians so great that only the most creative (and most talented and prepared) will thrive!
Do you think we musicians can do something to attract young generation into the classical music concerts? How will you proceed?
Classical artists need to continue to follow the examples set by pop and rock artists: Be great at what you do, make interesting, creative music, look fantastic and interesting, and use every tool available to share your musical message with as many persons as possible!
By Louis Anthony deLise, D.M.A.,
Composer and Producer,
President,
Bocage Music Publishing, LLC
U.S.A.
To me music is a personal expression. I write in many Genre to convey various emotions. Classical music and especially Nocturnes are about beauty and romance and sometimes tragedy .
Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?
The same Music can represent to different people different things. But emotions are what I try to convey. I’m not sure that is always fantasy? Sometime music is about things that are very real.
If you were not a professional musician, would you have been?
I had many other interest as well, But music is in my blood. My father played violin in the symphony before I was born even though he was a business man and teacher for a career. My mother was a Church organists.
The classical music audience is getting old, are you worried about your future?
For me I am a retired businessman. So no I’m not too concerned about my future. I will be writing music as I please for as long as I can.
What do you envision the role of classical music to be in the 21 century? Do you see that there is a transformation of this role?
Most people exposure to classical music today is through Movies and Video Games. I think that is why I see so many very young people writing classical style music.
When I say that classical music is searching for new ways or that the classical music is getting a new face, what would come to your mind?
I’m reminded of a video I saw of Dvořák - Symphony No. 9 Allegro con fuoco with a Korean dance group. At the end they had to remind you that you just listened to classical music. It was the first time I laugh listening to Dvořák.
Do you think that the classical musician today needs to be more creative? What’s the role of creativity in the musical process for you?
I am reminded of the time I received a comment about an early Sonata that I wrote. Comment was: Even though the piece was nice, it did not qualify as a Sonata. In my defense I pointed out the definition of a Sonata as “sound” or music without voice. If we restrict out definitions of music too much then we have no place to grow. We would all be still avoiding parallel 5ths. Even though we change the standard tuning around 1920 so we would not have wide and narrow 3rds .
Do you think we musicians can do something to attract young generation into the classical music concerts? How will you proceed?
I am reminded of the works of Vanessa May, Lindsey Stirling , and Taylor Davis. I admit to being a fan. I think these artist do a great deal in attracting younger Generation to classical music.
Tell us about your creative process. Do you have your favorite piece (written by you) How did you start working on it?
Wow that is a tough question for me. I don’t know If I have a single favorite piece. I have some pieces that I think turned out better than others. But If I didn’t like them I would most likely change them if I could. Or just not publish them. To me I’m often inspired by other music and other artist. Often something is not working and I set it aside., Sometimes months later I pick it up and it just works. Other time a piece just comes together fast, as if someone else is writing it.
We, Moving Classics TV, love the combination of classical music with different disciplines: music and painting, music and cinematography, music and digital art, music and poetry. What do you think about these combinations?
I agree. When I finish a piece of music and present it on You tube. I always look for visual content that matches the mood of the piece. I sometime use my own photographs in videos. I’m also an amateur photographer, and retire computer programmer.
Can you give some advice for young people who want to discover classical music for themselves?
Just listen to every thing you can. And maybe see what Classical music has in common with other Genre. An example of this is a Piano Etude I wrote “ Dances of Nature” After I wrote the Classical Piano piece, I heard something else in my head. The result was a Progressive Rock arrangement. And this is not the only time this has happened to me.
Now it is a common practice in the media to talk that the classical music is getting into the consumption business, do you agree? We are speaking about the supply and demand rules and how to sell your “product” in your case your compositions. How do you see it?
Being an unknown as I am, avoiding cost is the issue. I found selling sheet music as the best way of getting my music out there. Because I’m not a Pro, There are sites that will list you PDF’s and sell them for 55% commission but with no upfront cost. So it’s hard to lose when you have no cost. I am grateful for this opportunity and exposure of my work., I have to say I really appreciate your program.
Do you have expectations what regards your listeners, your audience?
I hope my listeners will enjoy what I write. I know that not everyone will like everything. I hope my Music survives me, and will be appreciated 50, 100 or even 200 years from now. I can only hope, and I will never know.
What projects are coming up? Do you experiment in your projects?
Right now I working on my 149th Nocturne. I have been referred to as Mr. Nocturne. I am experimenting with conflicting styles. I’m not sure It will work yet. Every project or piece is an experiment, or a combination of experiments. I’m always looking for a new sound, and or a ways to merge new with old. To me good music is timeless., And the only restriction is ourselves.
Jackie Perks talks about how she "dreams" music and sees the "imagery" to go with the music. She gives advice for young people and shares her passion for youtube!
To me, music is life. It is everywhere. It is in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the greatest universal language known.
Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?
Yes!! In fact, I share this philosophy with you Anna. From the time I was a very small child, I began to “dream” music, the imagery firing up so brilliantly in my mind. I experience the same thing when I go to the symphony! Notes in the air transform into beautiful and vivid imagery!
If you were not a professional musician, would you have been?
At this point the only professional work I have been paid for was the use of my Tom Waits improvisation of “Invitation to The Blues” in the HBO Documentary, “Requiem for the Dead, An American Spring”. This was a great honor for me! I wanted to be a concert pianist growing up, but also had other interests, namely Biology and the medical field and was considering this, too. However, after a terrible car accident permanently damaged some nerves, I lost a bit of speed and dexterity, so I could not become a concert pianist. Surprisingly, I also shifted my focus to business, so my actual career is in corporate with heavy emphasis on sales and marketing. After many years off of playing and lots of physical therapy, I came back to it. There was a hole in my life without a piano and the ability to make music and my husband “saved me” with the surprise gift of a piano. He knew it was in my soul and I remember the tears of joy I cried when I received it. Now I am very thankful to still be able to play. I work hard on my dexterity issues and have adapted my playing style now. Due to heavy time constraints, I am on a slow path to record and make albums, but it will happen. However, I do have all my original music scored and available for purchase at this time. All my performances are recorded and available to view on YouTube, as well.
The classical music audience is getting old, are you worried about your future?
I do worry a little about the future, but I truly believe that the ageless, timeless nature of the music and its ability to move the soul will never die. There will always be room in the hearts of new listeners to appreciate classical music. I believe parents can have a great influence on their children with this, as well, by getting them involved in music, giving lessons in musical instruments, and attending live concerts and symphonies to support them.
What do you envision the role of classical music to be in the 21 century? Do you see that there is a transformation of this role?
I think that music is always evolving and new forms emerge based upon the older disciplines. There are always ways to keep it fresh and new. However, the known forms are already so perfect that I believe they will still continue to be studied, preserved, and played for many, many years to come!
When I say that classical music is searching for new ways or that the classical music is getting a new face, what would come to your mind?
What comes to mind are ways to reach a younger audience, to get them (and keep them) interested and excited about it and the many ways it can be presented.
Do you think that the classical musician today needs to be more creative? Whats the role of creativity in the musical process for you?
I believe that musicians have always had to be somewhat creative, but even more so today with the advent of social media and the multitude of ways to present visuals to pique the interest of the listener. There are numerous presentation avenues to showcase one’s work and creativity. For me, creativity comes from taking prose and poetry on existing works, as well as writing my own music. What further fuels my creativity are the powerful visuals that form in my mind when I listen to (or create) music!! Creativity is part of the entire process and very, very important!
Do you think we musicians can do something to attract young generation into the classical music concerts?How will you proceed?
As stated previously, I honestly believe that it all begins at home. The influence of parents and family are very important. The younger generation will continue where we left off.
Tell us about your creative process. Do you have your favourite piece (written by you) How did you start working on it?
My creative process for composing always begins with “music playing in my head”. This has been happening to me since age 4 when I asked my parents for my first piano. I “dream” music in beautiful colors that I almost cannot explain. It usually happens in the wee hours near dawn and I awake with this music fresh in my mind. I have also been known to get out of bed and just start playing or recording my ideas in the dark, as powerful visuals unfold in my mind. There are other moments where a powerful conversation will even cause music to come to mind and soon thereafter, I usually run to my piano, blank music sheets in hand. Then there are those moments in life that inspire….a beautiful day, time spent reflecting at the water’s edge, the smell after a rain, and so much more. Interestingly enough, I did not formally compose any of my music until just a few short years ago and will never look back again! I am not sure I have a favorite work that I have written as they are all inherently different. Some are freeform improvisations, while others are more structured works. Examples of freeform improvs are “Forbidden Love” and “The Connection”. Examples of structured works are, “Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor”, “Waltz in C Minor”, “Love”, “Opus No. 17 in G Minor (Toxic)”, “Free to Fly”, and my latest work, “Raindrop Fantasia”. I also have a few works infused with whispers of modern jazz and blues, “Into The Blue” and “Autumn in Blue”. The works I have written that have the greatest emotional impact however are different. For example, my “Opus No. 17 in G Minor (Toxic)” was written last year during a time of extreme grief, the night I found out my only sister was dying, so very dark, deep, personal, and painful. In my performance, I am literally sobbing all over my keyboard and could barely finish. I am in the habit of having my recorder on while playing, but was not even going to keep it or post it, but my husband insisted that I keep it raw as he loved it. His feeling was that the emotion could never be recreated the same way again and now I am glad I preserved it. That same performance remains on my YouTube channel. The other was the piece I wrote to honor my sister after her death. “Free to Fly” was the music that embodied the notion that she is free to explore and dance the cosmos/heavens until we meet again. My sadness is there, but also my acceptance. She was a beautiful person that gave to all and there will never be a day that goes by that I don’t think of my precious and beautiful Kristin. So, in the end, the creative process of the composer is born of FEELINGS, some happy, some sad.
We, Moving Classics TV, love the combination of classical music with different disciplines: music and painting, music and cinematography, music and digital art, music and poetry. What do you think about these combinations?
As I am an extremely visual person, I agree with this wholeheartedly!! Visuals are so very important to evoke memories and emotions as it paints a tapestry of musical colors for the listener, while allowing the artist full expression of what is in his/her soul.
Can you give some advice for young people who want to discover classical music for themselves?
Don’t be afraid to be yourself!! Open your mind to the music and allow it to become part of your life. Listen, share, and if playing an instrument, create fearlessly what is in your mind and don’t allow peer pressure to steer your ship when it comes to music. Ask your parents to take you to a concert, the symphony, help you purchase a recording, or ask to take lessons on a musical instrument. I was one of those kids that listened to rock and roll and other genres of music, but also went to the symphony and loved it! I listened to classical music as a teenager, too and was the ONLY one among my friends that did this. I did not steer away from it or apologize for it as I enjoyed my uniqueness. Nothing could have ripped me away from the magical beauty of Classical music and especially the music of the Romantic period. Once I experienced the magic of Chopin and Liszt, I was inspired and hooked for life.
Now it is a common practice in the media to talk that the classical music is getting into the consumption business, do you agree? We are speaking about the supply and demand rules and how to sell your “product” in your case your compositions. How do you see it?
I do agree. I think that with the advent of social media platforms, the works are being shared even more and Classical music is being given a new face and a new start. This also means that there is much more competition in the marketplace. I do sell my compositions in sheet music form and hope to be able to put together an album with my recorded works in the future as aforementioned, so I cannot speak to album sales at this time. I am hopeful that interest in Classical music will never go out of style and that I will enjoy playing and sharing my works well into old age. Of course it’s also my dream that people continue to enjoy my music long after I am gone.
Do you have expectations what regards your listeners, your audience?
I do not have any expectations whatsoever. I only ask that they listen fully, with eyes, ears and minds wide open to what the music is saying. I want them to allow the music to sink in deeply, touch their souls, and even create powerful visuals in their own minds as they listen. Music is highly therapeutic in my opinion.
What projects are coming up? Do you experiment in your projects?
I have no projects coming up per se, as I write my music as it “comes to me”. I cannot control the muse. When the music comes, it is usually inspired by something, a dream, an event, a beautiful moment, a smell, a visual and something that I cannot plan in advance. If I had more time, I would love to do more projects and even collaborate with other musicians, artists, poets, and singers, but corporate life only allows me so much time (at least for now)! I am in the process of having a website built for me and will slowly move toward planning and creating an album for release. In the meantime, I am on YouTube for anyone to see. I am wide open here and my heart welcomes any and all that want to watch and listen, even my imperfect moments as that is also part of who we all are….through trial, error and adversity, we achieve our best.
Tao Mijares talks about why the new art-music will be tight to the media production, how to apply the creativity to the filtration and selection of all the influences around and how to identify the real valuable music and generate a taste for the musical work in the audience.
What does music mean to you personally?
Music is the most ethereal and spiritual of all the fine arts. Work with sounds, as an art-music
composer, is working with the most subtle of all the substances: Sounds and silence.
Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?
Of course not! It is about science, harmony, structure, imagination, yes, but an organized
one; all these elements should be put at the service of an aesthetic idea to express a universe of
human feelings. Music is an absolutely complex phenomenon, a blend of precision, creativity,
and expression. We are talking about art-music, not about the commercial music which the main
goal is to make money, a totally different approach.
If you were not a professional musician, what would you have been?
Maybe an astrophysicist or a Neurosurgeon.
The classical music audience is getting old, are you worried about your future?
Of course I am worried. However, I believe that the same way Bach music was preserved and
rediscovered, even if the art-music almost disappear, somehow, the Universe will re-position it
on the test of the general audience, through the real music lovers.
What do you envision the role of classical music to be in the 21 century? Do you see that there is a transformation of this role?
Nowadays, if we talk about the music composed in the last 5 years, for example, it is almost
reclused to a very, extremely reduced audience. However, there is a field where (Believe it or
not) there is space for this music to be fully appreciated for all kind of audiences, that is the film
music. I’ve noticed that some very complicated serial music is used from time to time for certain
kind of ,believe or not again, in the most commercial movies. Video games is another amazing
field that can cast contemporary music to be tasted by almost all the audiences; thus, in my
humble opinion, the new art-music, will be tight to the media production. I wish, at some point,
there was a movement, or maybe a person or an institution that will take all that music to the
concert halls a massive scale (From time to time, effectively, quality music from famous films, are
taken to the big philharmonics around the world) Now, if we want to talk about art music at all
times, I believe it will survive the eons; hopefully I am not being too optimistic!
When I say that classical music is searching for new ways or that the classical music is getting a new face, what would come to your mind?
I believe that creators, composers from all times, were always the new face and that this is a process that repeats today. What I don’t trust is the novelty for the novelty itself. When a composer tries „to be original, to be the new face of a movement,“ of necessity it will be a failure and won’t prosper. However, when a creator absolutely mindless regarding how „new or unique“ his aesthetic language is, but just stick to himself, after a long study of the music in general and letting him/herself permeate from the influence of the biggest music geniuses of the history, the new style, the new musical proposal, will emerge triumphant and eternal.
Do you think that the classical musician today needs to be more creative? What’s the role of creativity in the musical process for you?
As I said above, they have to be faithful to themselves. Maybe now, the creativity should be
applied more to the filtration and selection, the decantation of all the influences around, trying
to identify the real valuable from the useless ones. Unfortunately, there are plenty of very
„famous“ composers whose work is basically worthless, but that are very well sold by the
mainstream media; teach young generations of composers to recognize the universal value from
the passing fashion with no deep value, should be a must. The creativity, I believe, per se and
regarding the musical oeuvre, is warrantied with the new generations.
Do you think we musicians can do something to attract young generation into the classical music concerts? How will you proceed?
Again, accordingly to what I said before, probably what we need to do is just create awareness that young generations are already being exposed to art music in quality films, quality video games, in some advertising (Music from Ludwig, Wolfgang, and even Orff, are very often used in a number of commercials) and some global streaming systems like YouTube, propose very good new art music as a background music for video creations. If only the young musicians were aware of this motley variety of music, I believe it would result in an amazing impulse to art music.
Tell us about your creative process. Do you have your favorite piece (written by you) and how did you start working on it?
I could talk about the motivation to approach a piece. It could be an idea revolving in my mind or a commissioned work; in both cases the motivation is clear. Now, regarding the real creative process, I have to confess that I have no idea what it is. Somehow the music handles to flow while I am in a sort of stupor, numbness, unconsciousness, something like that. As a matter of fact, there are some of my compositions that I have no idea what was I thinking when I composed them; actually, some of them, like „5 ESTAMPAS NORESTENSES“ and the Symphonic Poem „Quetzalcóalt“ were born like that… and then again, I really don’t know how they were born.
We, Moving Classics TV, love the combination of classical music with different disciplines: music and painting, music and cinematography, music and digital art, music and poetry. What do you think about these combinations?
I am a strong believer, as Scriabin was, for instance, that music has both powers to be appreciated: By itself and as a part of a multidisciplinary work. Ballets and Opera are a great example of that approach based on the mediatic resources the composers, back those days had. Why not combine all the numerous media mean we can dispose of nowadays, with art music? The results, if it is done well, are always astonishing.
Can you give some advice for young people who want to discover classical music for themselves?
To pay attention all around; movies, video games, some ads, the internet, everywhere. Art music actually can be discovered in almost any place. Starting from there, to explore, to search, to educate themselves. Nowadays the have amazing tools for that purpose. All the have to do, is be aware of what they are hearing.
Now it is a common practice in the media to talk that the classical music is getting into the consumption business, do you agree? We are speaking about the supply and demand rules and how to sell your “product” in your case your compositions. How do you see it?
I believe that, especially if you are making a living out of music composition, you need some degree of commercialization that won’t compromise your integrity as a creator but that allows you to generate a taste for your work in the audience. Let’s say that for professional musicians is a necessary evil.
Do you have expectations what regards your listeners, your audience?
Just for them to give some of their precious time to listen to my work; that solely will be an honor.
What projects are coming up? Do you experiment with your projects?
As a part of the creative process, I guess, all is experimentation, all should be the splendid experience of the new; after all, composing is creating, thus, experimenting new horizons