Students present compositions

Rachel Pittenger Staff Writer

A variety of composers from the Vassar student body will demonstrate their musical talents in a concert on May 1. Pieces to be performed were all written by Vassar students in music department composition courses. A select group of musical compositions were chosen for the concert; they will be performed by student members of Vassar’s music community.

Professor of Music Richard Wilson and Instructor of Music Harold Meltzer organized the show and recruited the performers. Meltzer stated that this show should be very impressive, partly because the compositions performed were drawn mostly from upper-level composition classes.

“This year [they] are including something from the very first assignment in [Music] 215, a piece by Eric Gersen [’09],” he said. In addition to Gersen, other composers include Evan James ’07, Cindy Lowe’ 07, Tim Ellis ’07 and Tim Susse ’07.

Susse’s piece will include a section for a string trio and two short songs for baritone voice and piano. All three pieces will be perfomed by Vassar College musicians.

Lowe’s choral piece will also feature student performers. Her composition is based on Theodore Roethke’s poem “The Waking.” Lowe explained, “I had come across the poem years ago and absolutely fell in love with it, and it was the first thing that came to mind when I decided to write a choral piece.” She noted that the availability of pieces for women’s choruses is far less plentiful than mixed choral music, and was committed to composing a piece for women performers. Lowe has been a member of the Vassar College Women’s Chorus since her freshman year.

James’ composition is a study for tenor voice, guitar, and recording/playback devices. He noted that the concert will be an interesting and productive project for the students since “it gives us a taste of what it takes to get a piece performed—finding performers, scheduling rehearsals, and dealing with bureaucracies.”

Gersen said that “[his] piece is actually pre-recorded, and is simply going to be played at the performance.” The piece is tentatively titled “Ben and Jerry’s,” and is composed for “a two-voice spoken chorus that uses the syllables from different Ben and Jerry’s flavors and applies them to different rhythms,” said Gersen. “By using flavors with similar sounds, the words get sort of mashed up in the ear. Therefore the syllables themselves each become a percussive instrument,” he said.

The musical offerings on display promise to be diverse and unique, as each student composer will bring a distinct viewpoint to his or her music. The concert will take place on Tuesday, May 1 in the Skinner Hall of Music at 8 p.m.