You play contemporary music? I think all new music sounds ugly
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(This is part 3 of a five-part series on my journey that led me to create a new music festival in Besançon, France.
As a student at Juilliard, I was thrilled by the offer of elective classes: chamber chorus, film scoring, Beethoven Piano Sonatas, MaxMSP, The Modernist Era, contemporary music ensemble… I wanted a taste of the unknown and in-depth knowledge on subjects that long fascinated me, the whole wide world and history of classical music were my oyster!
Signing up for Composition lessons, I aspired to fully give voice to my teenage creativity and compose heartbreaking, sublime music like my favorite composer at that time, Brahms. My sympathetic, compassionate composition teacher to whom I’m forever grateful - Eric Ewazen - patiently listened and helped with my first opus, but also gave me new listening assignments and different modes and harmonies to try out.
Returning to my lesson the week after, I desperately told Mr. Ewazen that I couldn’t compose anything with the new modes and harmonies, “they just sound like noise to me.” He patiently sat me down to listen to different pieces together, making reference to some abstract paintings in his classroom by Jackson Pollock and the “rhythms” within the colors.
Week after week, I sat at the piano trying to combine the different modes and get into the pieces of the listening assignment only to return to Mr. Ewazen feeling completely defeated. Mr. Ewazen, in his usual warm-hearted and reassuring manner, said, “Don’t worry. One day, they won’t sound like noise anymore.”
Although my life as a composer didn’t last beyond the two years of composition lessons, this feeling of fascination and quiet possibility stayed with me and nurtured my continued exploration of new music.
Sure enough, without ever noticing when or how it happened, contemporary music stopped sounding like senseless, aggressive noises and I became actively involved in different new music ensembles in New York, Zurich, then in France.
By participating actively, meeting experienced performers, and working with composers, I have learned so much about how to embrace new music and actually learn to love it.
Do you feel alien to new music? Are you ever confused by it? Do you not like it? I get it. I've been there.
Here’s how I suggest you can “get it”:
Give yourself permission to be confused - it’s OK!
Play this music yourself, being guided by experienced performers,
Invest your imagination into the performance in whichever way that inspires you: stories, sounds, images, scents, grooves...
Learn more about the context of the piece - even the most revolutionary work was not created in a vacuum. Knowing about the historical context and human stories go a long way to humanize the scores.
A few days ago I announced that I’m launching a new festival, POTE, Playing On The Edge.
One of the central missions of the festival is to open the world of new music to all the audience by inviting everyone to participate.
Are you curious about new music? Do you have a creative musical project you’d like to present? Are you looking for partners with whom you can try things out? Write to me and let me know your thoughts!
For more information about the festival, click here
For information about participating in the festival, click here
For information about supporting the festival, click here
(The website is currently in French only. If you need help, please hit reply and let us know!)
