Klarinet Archive - Posting 000143.txt from 2009/11

From: "Forest Aten" <forestaten@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Supporting Composers
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:33:29 -0500

That's A&M Commerce...not UT Commerce.

Commissions by "good" composers....are way too expensive for most student efforts. (and....most often, you get what you
pay for) There is a big public discussion about the lousy quality level being written to a target market....public
school band programs. Much of the offering, even by big name publishers...is rubbish.

Students should never be required to perform new compositions...without careful review and evaluation. If the work is
trash....it needs to hit the circular file ASAP. LOL

-----Original Message-----
From: retiredprof55 [mailto:retiredprof55@-----.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 8:55 AM
To: Klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] Supporting Composers

I believe that it was the late Dr. Neil Humfeld, former Trombone
Professor at the University of Texas at Commerce, who had a
requirement that all his students giving recitals needed to contribute
in some way to expanding the repertoire of their instrument. They
needed to do an arrangement of something currently not available for
that instrumentation or have a composer write a new piece. He was
trying to instill in all his students the idea that performers have a
responsibility to expand the repertoire for their instrument and to
support the contemporary creators of music. As a performer, conductor,
educator and composer, I wholeheartedly agree with his philosophy and
throughout my career have embraced this practice.

I was exposed to the value of commissioning projects during my
undergraduate years at Ithaca College where Kappa Gamma Psi, the music
fraternity to which I belonged, annually commissioned a composer to
write a piece to be performed by some of the students at its spring
recital. It was a very exciting time for us, knowing that we were
contributing to the growth of the literature and working directly with
the creator of the music.

When I began teaching public school in Bath, N.Y., I wanted to
experiment with the idea of commissioning as applied to elementary
band. In 1967, I decided to approach Elie Siegmeister, whom I met at
Ithaca College when he was commissioned by Kappa Gamma Psi and with
whom I later studied. When I first approached him with the idea of
writing for elementary band, he was intrigued, as he had never before
been commissioned to write for young performers. We requested a five-
minute piece for which he would supply score and parts and attend a
rehearsal and the concert. This meant driving 500 miles round trip
plus the cost of motel rooms, all for a fee of $250! The resulting
piece, "Ballad for Band", was an excellent addition to the
intermediate level band repertoire. The students were inspired to
perform at an increased level of musicianship and developed a sense of
understanding for a more modern musical language.

When I began my career as a university professor, I created a unique
project as part of my twentieth century music class. Each member of
the class contributed $10 to a fund used to commission a composer to
write a piece for the instrumentation of the class. The class was
involved in selecting the composer, contacting him or her, writing
grants for additional funds, writing a letter of agreement, and
rehearsing and performing the piece. My wife and I also commissioned
and premiered about a dozen works written for us to perform at the
close of our faculty recitals.

Today I am mostly involved from the composer and arranger end. How
many times as performers or conductors have we wished we could contact
the composer and as him/her what they intended? We can't do that with
composers who are no longer living, but we can do that with composers
who are alive! The process of working closely with composers enables
us to understand the composer's intentions and grow in our ability to
interpret music. In addition, having a composer attend a rehearsal and
performance and talk to the performers and audience gives everyone
involved a further understanding of the cycle of music, from creator
to interpreter to listener.

Hopefully by now I have interested you in working closely with a
composer whether by commissioning a new piece, or by giving and
existing piece its premiere or additional performances. The next
question you may have is "How to I go about finding a composer to work
with?" One of the places to start is with composer organizations such
as:

American Composers Forum http://www.composersforum.org/
National Association of Composers, USA http://www.music-usa.org/nacusa/
Center for Promotion of Contemporary Composers http://www.under.org/cpcc/
American Music Center http://www.amc.net/
Society of Composers http://www.societyofcomposers.org/

These organizations have links to where you can sample the composer's
works and find contact information.

Another way of having performers and composers come in contact with
each other is for news groups and list serves to fully embrace
composers as part of their membership. The orchestralist for example
has this as part of their description, "ORCHESTRALIST is an
international forum for conductors, composers, players, and their
colleagues in the orchestra business. Discussion on Orchestralist
ranges over a variety of topics of interest to orchestra
professionals. Those encouraged to participate include: (1) conductors
of professional, college or community orchestras that perform standard
repertory (including choral-orchestral music and opera); (2) musicians
who play in such orchestras; (3) composers who write music for such
orchestras. Also invited to participate are publishers,
administrators, board members, scholars, patrons, and artists-in-
training." Too many lists have a policy of no commercial advertising
or self-promotion. With the state of the publishing industry
concentrating only on items that sell well, many composers are making
their music available via the internet. The prices they charge are
just trying to cover their expenses and they cannot afford commercial
advertising rates. Often, news groups serve as the only means of
informing performers of the availability of their music. It would be
nice if all news groups welcomed composers in the manner that the
orchestralist does so that performers and composers can easily
communicate with each other.

Lastly, many performers are concerned about the finances of working
with composers and commissioning works. In an ideal world, all artists
would be paid what they are worth. But in the real world, composers
are often more anxious to get a performance of their music than to
earn a lot of money. To help with linking performers with composers,
there are several grants available:

Meet The Composer Met Life Creative Connections Grants http://www.meetthecomposer.org/node/10
American Composer's Forum Encore Grants http://www.composersforum.org/programs_detail.cfm?oid=10956&section=performances
Co-op Press Fund Grants for Performers http://www.cooppress.hostrack.net/grants.html

I apologize for the length of this post, but I hope that I have
convinced the performer and conductor members of this group, no matter
your level of accomplishment, to seek out and work with a composer of
your choice. You will be creating an invaluable educational experience
and adding to the repertoire. It is a win-win situation for all
involved.

Dr. Sy Brandon
Professor Emeritus
Millersville University of PA
------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------