Sunday, January 16, 2011

Variations on Lightly Row

What a great way to start off a blog! Good feelings tonight – a newly-composed piece of mine was performed for the first time. It’s been about a year and a half since the last time something of mine has been played, so this has turned out to be a pretty big deal for me. My good friend Keith, a Suzuki Cello Pedagogy master’s student (whom I know from my undergrad) had his recital, and he’d decided to give it a folk music theme. Since, as a Suzuki student, he needed a Suzuki piece on his recital, and most of the folk songs are in Book 1 (read: easy), he wanted somebody to write some variations on it. That’s where I came in. I chose the classic “Lightly Row,” and wrote variations in the styles of Rock, Blues, Pizzicato a la Mark Summer (we thought so, anyway!), and two fiddle ones, a jig and a reel.

It was a really good performance – of course, it helped that I got the right person for the job. Keith and I have known each other for a few years now, and I can tell you – this dude is so cool onstage. Seriously. I knew the piece was in good hands. Anyway, no two ways about it – he totally rocked it. People loved the piece – three other cellists wanted to play it next, two even wanted to buy copies from me! Maybe I should publish it. I’m not sure how to do that yet, but I will certainly find out.
I’ve been a performance-oriented person since graduation from undergrad– but maybe I no longer feel the need to leave composition behind after all. It’s important, as a musician in today’s economy, not to close any doors on yourself in terms of employment – burnt out or not. You never know what exciting opportunities may come your way, and fling the door wide open again.