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The following article is printed with the permission of the Wisconsin School Musician.

The Composing Process—a Student’s View
Neara Russell, Spring Green

My Beginnings

Everyone is born with a talent and WSMA helped me find mine. I am a composer. My music education began at an early age with piano lessons, but my musical studies took a more serious turn when I was presented with a motivational goal – awards! Recognition is a great inspirational tool for me to work to improve my skills, and WSMA provided plenty of opportunities to achieve that recognition.

After being awarded with many firsts at state solo/ensemble festivals for piano, vocal, and instrumental performances, I was ready for a new challenge. By searching on the Internet, I found an attractive conquest: the WSMA/DPI Student Composition Project. Having never studied composition, however, I wasn’t sure how to go about composing an entry.

One day, I awoke from a nap with a complete art song ringing in my head and realized it was my own! I rushed to the computer to write it down and within a couple of weeks, I had a polished entry.

That song won best of category, but I wouldn’t be satisfied until I won first place overall. Over the next several months, I wrote an entire song cycle and that was it – I not only won first place; I was hooked. I knew what direction my career would take.

The Process

Although my first piece originated in a dream, I learned that creativity doesn’t have to rely on sporadic bouts of inspiration. Ideas can be stimulated by hard work. During my long hours at the piano and computer, I learned to observe the world around me for inspiration, record ideas as they come, and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite!

Rather than stress over rules or conform to formulas, I simply developed the songs according to how I felt – what seemed right to me. When I hit writer’s blocks that seemed to paralyze my entire creative operation, I found that if I put the problems on a back burner to simmer while I focused on a different section, a solution would usually pop right up.

There are several key elements that I have found helpful to the composing process:

• A Broad Cultural Base
  Reading a lot, attending plays and concerts, being exposed to a variety of musical genres all contribute to my creative “vocabulary.” It shouldn’t be surprising that the first piece I wrote was an art song, considering my years of singing so many songs for WSMA Solo and Ensemble Festivals and listening to previously recorded versions. Frequent listening to music is a good way to stimulate composition.

• Setting Goals
  As I stated earlier, having a goal with a definite deadline was essential for me to transform an idea into a finished product. However, aside from receiving grades for a classroom assignment, or even receiving awards for a competition, the most motivating goal for me, as a composer, is having opportunities to hear my works performed. A final performance of a composition is a motivating ultimate goal.

• Music Theory
  I began learning basic music theory at an early age along with my piano lessons. However, even though having a good grasp of theory has been valuable to me in the composing process, it was not necessary to master the subject before attempting to compose. In fact, I learned even more theory as I strove to express myself. Capturing creative ideas first can then lead to learning the theory behind the ideas.

• Music Notation Programs
  Although it is beneficial to be able to write music by hand, a computer notation program like Finale is wonderful for ease of editing and professional appearance. I have found that many musicians are intimidated by this software, but I was able to learn by just plowing headfirst into projects and learning how to use the program’s features as I needed them. Composing directly into a music notation program can also provide the chance to hear the composition as it is being developed and edited.

• Recording Equipment
  Having a small digital multi-track recorder is not only necessary for entering my pieces in competitions, it is also very helpful for listening to parts of the work as it is being composed. When I listen to a piece, I often find areas that don’t sound quite as I had imagined them and require editing. A recorder can be valuable to capture compositional ideas if notating at a computer is not possible.

• Time
  The most essential component of my composing process is simply time – quiet, undisturbed time to think, dream and let themes come into focus. I found that I was not alone in creating music as I rested. The year that I won best of category in the WSMA/DPI Student Composition Project, another winner related that he had composed his piece upon arising from sleep. Relaxing in a meditative atmosphere can inspire creative musical ideas.

• A Notebook
  My most essential tool is probably the simplest. Since I never know when a creative moment might strike, I always try to carry a notebook with me to jot down some notes before the idea fades away. Small pocket tape recorders are also useful to capture an idea. I know a songwriter who will call home when inspiration strikes and sing into her answering machine. Just jotting down a few chords, a snatch of a melody, or a few words can be enough to recapture the inspiration later.

The Benefits

After achieving first place in the WSMA/DPI Student Composition Project, opportunities began to unfold. My voice teacher, a soprano from Madison, asked me to write an entire program of art songs to perform. We not only gave full concerts together, but also recorded a professional CD. That recording gained me a spot on the National Public Radio show From the Top. I was further named a Young Composer Honoree and given a trip to New York for a mentoring session with the Pulitzer Prize winning composer John Corigliano.

Most thrilling of all, those experiences directly led to a Presidential Scholarship from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts to pursue composition and songwriting. I am now attending my first semester at Berklee, writing more pieces, developing more skills and loving every minute of it.

Even if writing songs did not directly lead to my future career, it still would be a valuable experience. I have found a whole new world of enjoyment in music. The application of theory gives more meaning to my studies. I listen to music differently and see its possibilities. I’m also becoming more observant, finding themes, textures and hidden meanings in the scenes of life playing all around me. Best of all, I have found a way to express myself creatively and profitably. 

The Madison Youth Choir will be debuting two of Russell’s works on January 21 at MATC’s Mitby Theater in Madison. Russell can be reached through her website, www.neararussell.com, or by email: neara@neararussell.com.

 

One fine Day: Actress Sarah Day has been a fixture on the APT scene for 21 years. But the depth of her character reaches far beyond the stage.

"It is hard to miss Sarah Day. She is petite, dark and bookish - qualities that generally do not lend themselves to being a spotlight standout. Yet her beauty has a classical quality to it. Onstage, her lush, compact stature is striking. 

And there's something about her comic timing. Shall we call it ... dead on? 

Day, who launched her 21st season with American Players Theatre this summer as the centerpiece character Dolly Levi in Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker, is one of the Spring Green theater troupe's most enduring performers. And again, she is hard to miss: Though 'Matchmaker' is an ensemble show with a rich comic cast, Dolly, the benevolent meddler, is at the heart of it all."

Read more of this Wisconsin State Journal article online at madison.com: 

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/entertainment/index.php?ntid=88820&ntpid=1

  

Arena woman wins Distinction award

Nancy Giffey, of Arena, is one of six recipients of the 2006 Women of Distinction awards presented by YWCA of Madison for “service to community leadership and dedication to the lives of others.” The award was announced March 9.

Nancy is founder of the Artsbridge program at Bayview Community Center in the Triangle Neighborhood, home to some of Madison’s most vulnerable citizens. Artsbridge provides cultural enrichment for adults with physical, developmental, and emotional challenges, and a diverse population of children, many of whom are learning English as a second language.

For the past 25 years, Giffey developed and taught community-based programs. Among these are Museum on Wheels for long-term pediatric patients, Arts for Understanding and Poets Circle for Boys & Girls Club of Dane County, and Artreach for East High School’s alternative program Higher Ground. Honors she received include: Liesel Blockstein Award for improving racial and cultural understanding through the arts; Honored Community Artist Award from Arts Wisconsin; and Hennepin Center for the Arts Individual Artist Award for mixed media work.

The Women of Distinction award ceremony will take place at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 11 at the Concourse Hotel, Madison. A luncheon will follow.

This article was reprinted with permission from the May 15, 2006 Home News, Spring Green. Jim and Linda Schwanke, publishers; David Giffey, editor.

  

As a relative newcomer to the art world, Judy Reyes is beginning to find her “voice of expression.” What began as an exploration of the many facets of beaded jewelry craftsmanship has grown to include art works meant for the enhancement of living spaces.

Her works of mixed media on canvas can consist of polymer clay, metal sheeting, fiber, shrink plastic, wood, paper, or “found” object “gifts” from her husband. Combine some or all these ingredients and add acrylic paints, and Judy can make magic appear on a blank canvas board.

Ms. Reyes says, “My canvas pieces are 9” x 12”, fairly small by some standards. A good analogy would be that I’m ‘writing’ short stories now; I hope eventually to ‘write’ books by moving up to bigger canvases, even though I believe a work doesn’t have to be large to be dynamic or interesting.”

This self-described “crafts person” is thrilled when someone tells her, “That work makes me feel happy” or “I could stand here looking at that painting for hours.” Judy says, “I truly believe I can share my joy of life through my art. Oh, and if people like the jewelry I make too, that’s even better.”

Judy Reyes (owner of Judy Rose Designs, www.judyrosejewelry.com) has the following exhibits scheduled: the Months of March and April, 2006, a sample of her jewelry (which will change frequently) will be shown in the small display case at the Middleton Library (walk in and turn left; it’s in the small but beautiful lighted glass case in the corner); the Month of November, 2006, her canvases will be shown in the exhibit room at the Spring Green Library (just ask the Librarian for the key); the Month of May, 2007, her jewelry will again be displayed in the glass case at the Middleton Library, and, at the same time, her canvases will cover the east wall of the Library.

Treat yourself to a look at her works; we think you’ll be very pleasantly surprised!