Through their Young Composers Project, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra gives elementary through high school students a chance to learn about music theory and create new works for smaller ensembles or the full orchestra.
Students in the advanced class will present their works with a full orchestra on Saturday, May 9, at Catalina Foothills High School.
Students in the beginning-level and intermediate classes already presented works with smaller, chamber ensembles May 2.
The program runs September through May and is open to students 8 to 18.
Over the last 34 years, the program has had over 450 new works developed by students.
This year, there was around 30 students in the program. Many of them have been doing it for multiple years.
“Being able to have the chance to write for such a high-quality ensemble at such a young age, it’s an opportunity that most students really don’t get,” said Mateo Mendez, director of education and community engagement for Tucson Symphony Orchestra.
Tuition for the program ranges from $450 to $600 a year, and need-based scholarships are available.
The deadline to apply is Aug. 15.
Mendez said the program is open to children and teens of different skill levels.
“Anyone who’s interested can sign up. Depending on their level of expertise in composition, some may end up having to submit recommendation letters or some of them submit brief samples of scores that they’ve written…We try to place people where it feels appropriate. Even if they are first year applicants, some of them end up going into intermediate or advanced because they just had more composition experience. If they have none, they end up taking the beginner class, the introductory class, which has a wide range of ages. We have kids starting in third grade in that class up to their sophomore year of high school,” Mendez said.
All of the students come in with experience playing an instrument or singing, often in their school’s choirs, bands or orchestras. Many students have composition experience as well.
“Some of them will come in knowing the basics, especially third graders and fourth graders because they’re the ones who are just starting orchestra in school. They will know a little bit about musical notation but haven’t actually written any pieces before. But on the flip side, we do have some students, usually a little older in fifth or sixth grade, who have written a couple pieces before, in collaboration with their piano teachers. Some of them will work with their parents on pieces as well. Some of them have parents who have a musical background. We have a student whose father is in the choir here. He writes music with him… A lot of them study privately with our musicians. We have a senior in the advanced class who’s graduating this year. He’s going to be going to UCLA as a composition major. He’s a trumpet player who studies with our second trumpet player here, who is also the intro class teacher,” Mendez said.
As part of their process, the beginning-level students write for a string ensemble, and intermediate students write for either a brass or wind ensemble.
The advanced class students compose for a full 60-piece orchestra.
After the final concert, students receive professional audio recordings of their original pieces.
“They will play the piece, and after that, the orchestra will ask questions of the composer. The composer will make requests of the orchestra. Then, they’ll go and play it a second time, and they get recordings of both takes. They get recordings of it when it’s just sight reading and then when it’s more polished. They’ve been able to talk about a couple things, like balance issues. They get to hear it in two different ways. It’s almost like the first recording is the rehearsal, and the second recording is the performance,” Mendez said.
Students are able to use the recordings when applying or scholarships or for school programs. Mendez said that some students from the program have gone on to become performance or composition majors or teach music.
Throughout the process, students get a chance to interact with and learn from Tucson Symphony musicians and well as work with Music Director José Luis Gómez, attend dress rehearsals and meet guest artists.
Starting in February and March, Tucson Symphony musicians start coming to the classes to work with the composers.
“Some of the musicians will come in and do workshops with them and will play through their compositions…They get some hands-on feedback from the ensembles before they actually turn the final project in…Some sections will come and do readings of people’s pieces in the advanced class. We have the horn section and the trumpet section come…. They get guidance not just from their instructors but also from the actual TSO musicians every step of the way,” Mendez said.
Mendez, an oboe and English horn player, has observed and covered some of the classes. He has noticed growth in the students throughout the year.
“Seeing how their writing evolves from class to class, it’s really remarkable. The class that I stepped in for was the intermediate, and that’s when they’re learning how to score individually for each instrument. I covered their oboe and flute classes. Being able to hear their compositions that they wrote for those instruments, what they’re doing is very mature and very idiomatic for the instrument. Everything they write is very realistic…I remember when I was in middle school, and I would try and write music. I would just throw things onto the page with a music notation software and see if anything stuck….They’re really mindful of who they’re writing for, the limitations of the instrument. If they play one of the instruments they’re writing for, they understand what extra things they can add into this. For example, in the intermediate class, we have a girl who plays bassoon. The piece that she’s written has a couple extended techniques with a bassoon. They’ll play multiphonics, which is when you play two or more notes at once…. It is super remarkable that at that age, they understand how to write music in a way that is both approachable but also intriguing. It’s really cool seeing how that evolves from the beginning of the year, especially in classes like intro, where some of them may not even know how music notation works to writing a fully functioning piece at the end of the year,” Mendez said.
As part of the program, students get a chance to learn about different instruments from musicians who play them.
“They’re learning about how to best score for each instrument that they’re going to be working with… As a professional musician, a lot of times when you play a piece, you can tell immediately if a composer played that instrument or not… They’re learning each week how to approach these instruments as if they were the player. Even if they don’t play that instrument, they’re still understanding this is the comfortable range. Here’s what you maybe shouldn’t do with it. Here’s where that instrument excels. Here’s where maybe you don’t want to use it. It’s interesting because some other composers might not think about that and throw things on a page, but the students in this program are very mindful of what they’re writing,” Mendez said.
Along with learning from Tucson Symphony musicians, the students do peer reviews of each other’s work and learn from each other.
“They will hear their pieces. They’ll get to talk about what they liked, and then we invite the rest of the class to talk about what they liked and what they would do to fix something in that piece. It’s highly collaborative. The students are often working together to help each other… I had one student who’s in the intermediate class who has a friend in the advanced class. We were talking after one of the days that I subbed. He’s was like, ‘This guy in the advanced class, he really inspires me. He’s the reason that I wanted to take up music and start learning instruments…’ Just having classes where everyone just feels supported and welcomed is really important. It’s really nice to see the level of collaboration that we have in the program,” Mendez said.
Young Composers Festival: Full Orchestra
WHEN: 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., Saturday, May 9
WHERE: Catalina Foothills High School, 4300 N. Sunrise Drive, Tucson
COST: Free
INFO: tucsonsymphony.org/education-community/young-composers-project/