LIVE PERFORMANCE Composing VCFA’s Newest MFA By Erin Barker '11
“Whenever I hear anything that I’ve written performed ... I’m speechless.” Anna Chapman says about her live reading with the Callithumpian Consort during the MFA in Music Composition Residency in February. During the semester, students compose for the guest ensemble, which then reads, performs, and records at least ten minutes of each student’s original work. For Chapman, the readings starkly contrast the computerized files she works with during the semester, which lack “humanness.” That personal interaction between musicians, composer, and music is at the heart of the residency. Just as musicians breathe life and soul into a piece of composed music, it is the people that create the heart of VCFA’s newest MFA program. The world’s first, and only, lowresidency program in Music Composition went live last August and now has seventeen students and six faculty members. During residencies packed with master classes, lectures, readings, and concerts, the College Hall chapel transforms into a recording studio, and the faculty lecture on topics as diverse as composing for television commercials to juxtaposition in Stravinsky’s work. As with any debut performance there are unique logistical challenges, including the need for recording space. Adapting the low-residency model to an artistic field typically taught in a conservatory setting can also be difficult. During the semester, advisors only have access to students’ score notations or computer generated files, but the award-winning composers who comprise the faculty make up for it with their dedication and talent. One faculty member looks at the work of a student who isn’t officially assigned to him, another willingly meets in person if geography allows. Program Director Carol Beatty is quick to point out that there is “a real compatibility” between music composition and the low-residency model because, historically, teaching composition has been a one-on-one discipline. This individual instruction is certainly what drew student Timothy Miller to the program. Seeking mentorship, he’d previously contacted numerous composers, but found that no one had the time, or permission, to teach students who were not enrolled in their respective universities. Miller says of VCFA, “This program was exactly what I was looking for. All of the benefits and training that are available through a PhD program without the research, coursework, and obligation there.”
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Summer 2012