The Center for The Visual & Performing Arts, Suitland High School, Forestville, MD was supported by TI:ME/MD as it recently presented the Center’s first Composition Symposium/Competition.
The Competition was open to all Theory students and is an extension of the Piano/Theory class. The goal was to encourage students to use technology as a tool in composing/producing music. The judges looked for a demonstration of basic skills in using musical elements, and musical interest, and overall application of music theory in creating the composition. The debut performances of the compositions were presented to the public by the student composers, their peers and members of the music faculty of Suitland High School.
Competition Judges: Ms. Nevilla Ottley M. Mus -Department Chair, Piano & Organ and Dr Maria Martin D.M.A of Ottley Music School, Prince George’s County, MD.
Christopher Watson (senior) - 1st Place Winner
Listen to ‘Ficelles Douces in D’ from Sunset Suite
Throughout my musical career, composing music has been my biggest joy. Most of my pieces are a result of musical imagination, rather than motivation. After high school, I plan to enter Howard University and study music composition under Dr. Tony Randolph. It has forever been my dream of becoming a composer for film and other media such as television sitcoms and documentaries. ‘Ficelles Douces’in D is an example of a piece driven by imagination. Each note seemed to begin a new melody in my head and somehow, it all came together in the end. I have always been interested in making the unusual usual and as useful as possible. Thus, my reason for beginning the piece with violas, which play a rather significant role in the piece.
Unlike ‘Ficelles Douces’in D, ‘Life Song’ has motivation behind it. It represents the stages of my musical career. Its allegro, playful beginning represents my youth. As the piece progresses, it constantly builds and builds until it mellows out again, representing adolescence and maturity. It is also at this point where the theme is played again, but with thicker, more colorful chording, representing my jazz influence. I plan to continue writing music and gradually develop my skills as a composer. I am in the Piano/Theory class of Mr. Matthew Allen.
At the recently held Omega Psi Phi competition held in Maryland, Christopher’s piano composition ‘Life Song’ won first place and third place at the national competition held in New Jersey. ‘Ficelles Douces in D’ was composed using Notion, while ‘Life Song’ was composed using Sibelius 5.
Chloe Washington (sophomore) - 2nd Place Winner
Listen to ‘Shades of Harmonic Dissonance‘ ‘
My composition, ‘Shades of Harmonic Dissonance’, was really, just separate insights that came together into a piece that I enjoy. I started it with a four chord ostinato pattern in the bass whenever I was near a piano. Once I had the bass, parts of the melody began to evolve in my head but my fingers could not play them in their correct rhythmic patterns. When I finally was able to write it out on Sibelius, I decided to add a violin and a saxophone into the mix to see what would happen. I had played the bass on a keyboard in the style of pizzicato once before, and I had decided that I liked the sound, so I made the violin play pizzicato in the beginning, deciding on the same four notes but in a different order or sequence. The saxophone and the piano shared the same melody in the beginning, echoing each other.
The melody began to change in chord patterns, as it had in the original bass part. Then the piece became dissonant, which is where I decided on the name of the piece. Immediately after the section of dissonance, the piece modulates into a melody built on major and minor thirds and becomes harmonic. The melody then continued as if in a type of fugue where the violin and the saxophone echoed each other in descending sixteenth notes. Then enters a whirlwind of different rhythms and notes which harmonize with each other at times. The violin plays repeated sixteenth notes while the piano plays eighth and quarter notes creating some dissonance.
The theme returns before modulating into a parody of the original melody, almost. The rhythm is constant with all instruments, and they play the bass part on which the piece was originally built. The piece ends with a bang, I like to say. The ending is unexpected yet expected at the same time.
I think that I can find a lot of theory concepts that I learned in Piano/Theory class in my composition, and I believe that this piece which was built upon many epiphanies evolved into a well written piece that I really enjoy. My Piano/Theory teacher is Mrs. Jean Fadiga.
Rachel Moore (senior) - 3rd Place Winner
Listen to ‘Fugue in G Minor‘
My piece ‘Fugue in G minor’ was composed as part of an assignment in my Piano/Theory class which is taught by Dr. Hovayda Samandari. It is written for the piano.
Honorable Mention:
Benjamin Lee (Junior) ‘Happiness‘
Shervonne Brown (freshman) ~Amaranthine Aura~
Carl Felton III (sophomore) ‘Carsonism‘
………………………………………………… Prepared by Jean Fadiga (President TI:ME/MD)
Tiffany Papanikolas (TI:ME/MD Secretary)
