TOGETHER
Teaching is in my DNA.
I am currently teaching in person throughout NYC with Blue Balloon Songwriting School
& online through the Walla Walla Symphony's SPARK! Composition Program
♥︎♥︎
I am currently teaching in person throughout NYC with Blue Balloon Songwriting School
& online through the Walla Walla Symphony's SPARK! Composition Program
♥︎♥︎
EXCITING & NEW!
Over the course of the summer, 8 young composers from the PNW and I worked over Zoom on original orchestral works
to launch a new Walla Walla Symphony program, SPARK! Premieres.
Learn more about the amazing work of these composers and this exciting opportunity here.
Two of the SPARK! compositions will be premiered by the WWS on October 4th at their season opening concert!
Over the course of the summer, 8 young composers from the PNW and I worked over Zoom on original orchestral works
to launch a new Walla Walla Symphony program, SPARK! Premieres.
Learn more about the amazing work of these composers and this exciting opportunity here.
Two of the SPARK! compositions will be premiered by the WWS on October 4th at their season opening concert!
2020 ARCHIVE: Student Projects
The following projects were composed when piano lessons went online at Whitman College in the spring of 2020.
Please note: the audio for these recordings is not great. This was a pandemic experiment!
We were still figuring a lot out... but we were determined to keep making music... somehow.... together!
We were still figuring a lot out... but we were determined to keep making music... somehow.... together!
To compose =
to put together,
to make or form by uniting two or more things.
Through music and technology, we are able to create together,
to come together,
to compose.
YUWEI LIU
Hi, I am Yuwei Liu.
I have studied piano with Professor Vining for about 3 years, and recently, I am trying to learn composition. Music for me is an important part of my life and a great way for me to relax and be creative. This piece, "Snow Mountain," is my very first work. I created this piece because I miss skiing in the Alps so much. I intend to write a set of pieces all about Austria since I have unforgettable memories and love for that country. A NOTE FROM PROF. VINING: When the Whitman College music building was closed to students, Yuwei was still living at the college, but she did not have access to a piano. We were not able to meet in person, as all of our lessons were online. We decided to have "backwards piano lessons." She composed piano music for me to play. I recorded her piece at my home piano to share with you. |
ELISSA CORLESS
A NOTE FROM ELISSA:
This piece is the first song I've written for piano, and it was both challenging and fun! I was thankful to have a mentor guiding me as I wrote it, and I'm happy with the way it turned out. It was partially inspired by my cat slinking around the house while I was working on it, so I tried to make it sound like little cat paws running around. |
SAMI BRAMAN
A NOTE FROM SAMI:
I wrote this waltz originally on the violin and then, with the help of Professor Vining, arranged a version for the piano. It was challenging to locate the sections of the piece that were especially difficult and/or impossible for the piano, as I come at it from the perspective of a fiddler. However, after finding those sections and shifting voicings around, I was able to move this simple fiddle tune into the realm of a complex, arranged classical composition. |
JAMES BOGLEY
A NOTE FROM JAMES:
Since this was my first piano composition I focused less on complex accompaniment and more on melody and harmony. I composed this piece in a bit of a nonlinear fashion. The musical ideas I brainstormed for the piece differed in mood, which I originally thought wouldn't work at all. However, after trying to settle on one single idea, I just decided to incorporate them all! The challenge was trying to find transitions that would seamlessly connect them. With the help of Professor Vining and some musical glue, several different ideas eventually formed into one cohesive musical arc. |
KIERAN GALLAGHER
A NOTE FROM KIERAN:
My first attempts at composing called Beginnings and Descent are the first two parts of a piece called Irresolution. These pieces were created in the time freed up from the Covid-19 lockdown and thus draw from a lot of my emotions surrounding it. Beginnings is filled with back and forth feelings of worry, intrigue, guilt, hope, and uncertainty. Emotions at the beginning of something you have never experienced or really thought of before are unpredictable and not always well placed, but over time these give way to more directed emotions, and this case fear and precariousness. Descent is the journey into these spaces, and the attempt to process and cope with these things. I am excited to continue creating compositions as a way to express and share feelings and ideas that I come across. |