Concentration(s):
Music | Biology
Music Capstone Project:
Three Balkan Folk Dances / Film Scoring to “Tacet”
In Balkan folklore, dance and music are intricately and inevitably intertwined. Influenced by Eastern and Western musical traditions, music in the Balkans have flourished for centuries, with the aksak rhythms, maqam-derived scales, to become a unique genre in world music. Growing up in Turkey, I have been inadvertently exposed to many parts of such a longstanding tradition that has greatly influenced my musical expressiveness. This composition, hence, was natural, perhaps inevitable extension of this influence, with a goal to contribute, and humbly build upon, the wonderful cultures I grew up in. The inspiration for this piece came from three dances from different cultures around the region: Roman Havası (of the Romani peoples), Zeibekiko (from Greece) and Horon (from the Black Sea Region of Turkey). My role as a composer has been to utilize tropes and familiar motifs, and start abstracting the character of the music.
The second part includes my scoring for the short movie “Tacet,” animated by RISD-filmmaker Zachary Simon. In a heartwarming farm of instrument-animals, a newborn chick struggles to fulfill the expectations placed on them, later to find their true identity as a conductor. My score draws from classical tropes and traditions to complement the musical nature of the film.
Personal Statement:
Alp Köksal is a senior from Istanbul, Turkey graduating with B.A.s in Biology and Music. Initially at Brown, he was part of the Applied Music Program in classical and jazz piano and organ. Only in his junior year did he begin composing, starting with setting Turkish poems to a cappella choir. This piece is a project he expanded on from Prof. Nathan’s Composition Seminar, scoring “Tacet,” an animation movie by Zachary Simon, a RISD alum, inspired by Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major. The film is set in a farm, where animals are in the form of instruments, where a newborn chick finds its identity and unites the farm. With gratitude to all the amazing professors and peers who have reiterated the value of performing, composing, musicking in my life!
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