Young Composers Shine: 25 Brand New Songs
Nevada City, CA, December 19, 2011- Can you imagine what it would be like to compose an original piece of music? To know how each note works with what comes before and after? Music in the Mountains (MIM) presents “New Songs for Midwinter,” an exciting concert featuring 25 brand new works by student composers on Saturday, January 28th, 11:00 AM at Peace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley.
The Young Composers Project (YCP) is a collaborative effort of MIM and the Nevada County Composer’s Cooperative (NCCC). Mark Vance, MIM’s Education Coordinator and NCCC’s Executive Director, is the principal teacher of the program. “With this year’s grant from the California Arts Council and the Heller Foundation, we were able to take this program to the next level,” states Mark. “We now have 25 young people exploring the world of composition. This concert celebrates their dedication and enthusiasm. I am proud of their efforts and excited about this concert.”
YCP teaches talented young Nevada County musicians grades junior high through college to study music software notation, melodic and rhythmic dictation, music theory and harmony, music history, conducting, public speaking and composition. For their first concert of the season, students have chosen poems by Robert Frost, Ogden Nash, Allen Ginsberg, e.e. cummings, Shel Silverstein, and William Wordsworth among others and have set them to music. These original songs will be performed by some of the finest singers and instrumentalists in Nevada County, all of who volunteer their time and talent.
“YCP has been one of the cornerstones of my music education,” says Matisse Geenty, now in her fourth year of the program. “There is no other venue for young composers to have their works played by such talented musicians. It is so exciting. What is even better is when there are people in the audience who genuinely appreciate what we are doing.”
What: New Songs for Midwinter, a Young Composers Concert
When: Saturday, 1/28/12, 11:00 AM
Where: Peace Lutheran Church, Grass Valley
Tickets: Students Free, Adults $10.
Call (530) 265-6173 for more info
