Concentration(s):
- Music History/Theory/Composition
Music Award(s):
- Mitchell Baker ’90 Music Scholar Competition ’20
- Mitchell Baker ’90 Music Scholar Competition ’19
- Mitchell Baker ’90 Music Scholar Competition ’18
- Rosamund Winslow Lemaire Woodwind Prize ’17
Honors in Music Thesis:
- Hope and Power: A Suite for Jazz Ensemble
The objective of my honors thesis was to compose a suite for large jazz ensemble, inspired by iconic images from my time on campus. With the help of my mentor, Ayn Inserto, I wrote the first two movements, entitled “Starling Skies” and “Light Through the Leaves.”
The murmuration of the starling flocks above Power Street evokes a crazy energy that reminds me of the communal chaos of college life: we whirl around each other in a frenzy of individual activity, sometimes going our own way and sometimes joining together in beautiful emergent patterns. The first movement of Hope and Power, “Starling Skies,” attempts to capture this wild, birdlike feeling with chattering counterpoint at a breakneck pace.
One of the most reliably comforting sights on Brown’s campus is the annual return of foliage to the trees along Hope Street. The second movement, “Light Through The Leaves,” was my way of expressing gratitude to the friends and mentors who’ve showed up for me when I needed them, like the leaves returning to the trees every spring. The piece alternates between a colder, static texture in the rhythm section and a more familiar, bluesy-swing feel.
I hope these works are as fun to listen to as they were to compose.
Listen to “Light Through the Leaves:”
Listen to “Starling Skies:”
[Catherine Nguyen < previous senior]
[next senior > Joanna Podias]