COMPOSERS' CORNER

VOL. XII

April, 2017

Collaborating on a Commission

with Brett Abigaña

A big part of what we do at World Projects is collaboration, whether between a director and a WP staff member on creating the perfect custom travel package, or between a composer and a conductor on a new work for performance at one of our fantastic domestic festivals. Let's take a closer look at a recent collaboration I had with the De La Salle Santiago Zobel School Wind Ensemble, for which I composed In a Spacious Place, which was recently premiered in the beautiful Hawaii Theatre as part of the Pacific Basin Music Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Any good collaboration starts with a lot of questions, and this was no exception. I bombarded their directors, Ms. Nena Chavez and Mr. Linwell Lalic, with questions about their band, the students, and what they were interested in exploring in this new work. Ms. Chavez quickly wrote back and said that they wanted something particularly joyful, and that they as a group were inspired by Psalm 118 because, as she put it, "it's not necessarily religious, but has a sense of celebration, and is quite triumphant at the end.”

Since my compositional process involves a lot of planning before I touch pen to paper, I had a fair amount of time to think. During that time, a number of things happened in the world, and I have to admit, I didn't really have it in me to write the kind of dance I had originally imagined. Back to the collaboration I went, and told Ms. Chavez that the one verse in the Psalm that really resonated with me was the fifth: "When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me to a spacious place." I still wanted to write the joyful piece they requested, but I wanted it to be specifically a peaceful, intimate, even escapist kind of joy. After ensuring the band's approval, I got to work, and delivered In a Spacious Place to the band via email precisely two months before the premiere.

You can imagine my surprise when, after merely four days, Ms. Chavez emailed and asked if I would be available for a Skype rehearsal! Of course, I jumped at the chance, as I was eager to hear the piece and, even more so, to meet the kids, if only virtually. Frankly, I wasn't prepared for what I heard. They played the piece technically well, but with a musical maturity that belied their age. All in all, I think we Skyped for about an hour, but only 20 minutes of it was about the piece; otherwise, we just got to know each other.

When I finally met the kids for our clinic in Hawaii, we had a wonderful time talking about musical concepts, compositional ideas, and specific things related to the piece, and the time flew by! In fact, we ended up having to move out into the hallway where there was more talking, pictures, and general hanging out, as the next ensemble was being set up in the rehearsal hall. Throughout the week, I got the opportunity to work with some of those kids on their individual compositions and arrangements, and I loved every second of it. The premiere of the piece was part of the festival command performance, and they simply knocked it out of the park! They played with energy, passion, precision, and love, and received a well-deserved ovation at the end.

Since Hawaii, I've kept in touch with several of the students, as well as their conductors, and I've enjoyed the continued communication. After all, this is what these collaborations are all about: inspiring young musicians to become interested in new music, and to open their eyes to the musical possibilities available to them. I very much look forward to writing for the De La Salle Santiago Zobel School Wind Ensemble again, and I hope to do so very soon.

If your ensemble would like to be considered for a festival commission, be sure to fill out the application when you send in your information for the festival itself. Your ensemble will be evaluated by World Projects staff (see Composers' Corner Vol. IX for a description of our selection process), and if awarded the festival commission, you'll be paired with a composer to start your collaboration. In addition, check out www.world-projects.net/shop for our completed published catalogue, which includes many of the pieces written as part of these collaborations!
 

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