Well, parenting each kid is different and I have one like you describe and totally understand : )
I imagine strings is fine if those are his best pieces. Sometimes they do like to have pieces with different instrumentation but if strings is what he has and what he can get played and what he feels represents his best work, I wouldn’t replace a strings piece with, say, a wind instrument piece unless they specifically say so.
Very exciting!!! Purchase is really top notch for composition. This is great news.
I do think he has stuff for a range of instruments, but his best work may well be for strings (I assume they’re what he relates to best, as a guitarist?).
But, once again, I’ve passed along your and @SpiritManager’ info.
I will–thanks again. Definitely one of the best things about having children is watching who and what they become! Hearing music composed by my own son has got to be one of the greatest pleasures of my life… I’m sure you all know what I mean!
You guys!!! We learned last night that my son got Honorable Mention (there was a First- and a Second-Place winner, and then two honorable mentions) in his first-ever composition competition! And I’d been working so hard to lower his expectations about winning, and talking to him about how it would be practice for getting a thick skin.
We’re not sure yet if the Honorable Mentions get performed, but I’m so thrilled! Can’t wait to see what he does when he’s actually taken some Composition classes!
Thanks so much, @classicalsaxmom ! Yes–if that doesn’t help with the self-confidence, I give up!! I have tons of confidence in his talent, and I love music (and his piece sounded beautiful to me), but I know so little about composing, theory, performance, etc, etc. I just had no idea what to expect, but honestly I didn’t expect that much would happen for him in his first competition. So happy to be proven wrong!
Congratulations! A local community orchestra near us just played a composition by a composer in his twenties at their concert Friday night! I really enjoyed it and he was there to take a bow (originally from that town). So keep up those connections to musical groups in your area as they can help you get your works performed!
Thank you! My son has been looking into the local options, as well as musicians who are still attending his high school. He’s also working on some guitar compositions and plans to just play them himself and record them for the pre-auditions (if he’s permitted to do that–I told him to ask and make sure).
On Saturday night his competition piece was played at a small concert in NY (and he got to be there) by a string trio, and it was recorded–so we’ve at least got that one so far! (And it was such a fantastic experience for him!)
You can hire members of a local orchestra or some other ensemble. Often they will give a high school composer a break in terms of fees. The resulting quality of the recording can pay for itself in merit later on. Of course, the score is the main thing, but it’s nice to have good musicians. Also check because Purchase may only need on live performance, and he already has that! Once he is in school there will be no shortage of performance opportunities.
Sorry I didn’t respond until now–our internet has been messed up for days! My son is still up in NJ with his father, who says he’s been working like crazy on compositions and on sending things out to various places (competitions? summer programs? Who knows? ). I think that the performance of his piece gave him a big confidence boost and so now he’s on even more of a mission than he was on before to get things done and explore his options. We’ve told him that we’re willing to pay musicians to record some of his other work, and I know he’s been asking other musicians that he knows how best to go about it, so one way or another he’ll get it done.
One really nice development is that I got a call from his father a few days ago, letting me know that they were on their way home from another visit to Purchase to take the campus tour (for some reason they didn’t do it when he auditioned last year). AND he apparently asked the Admissions people there if a deferral could be cut short so that he could actually start this spring (it’s not possible, because of the set sequence of courses for music students). It made me happy to know that he’s now actually anxious TO get to college, rather than anxious ABOUT going to college!
