A Composer’s Reading List, Part I

Every now and then, I find it very refreshing to read how other composers go about their craft. What is their process like? How do they make decisions? Does anyone else still use pencil and paper, or have people moved to composing digitally from the start?

In this blog, I explore two fantastic books that I’ve found to be immensely helpful in gaining insights on the processes of other composers; in a later blog, I will explore two more. All four are compendiums of composers covering a wide gamut of styles and approaches, and they are also all relatively recent.

The Muse That Sings: Composers Speak about the Creative Process

By Ann McCutchan

Oxford University Press, 2003

Writer Ann McCutchan interviewed twenty-five composers for this book and presented them from oldest (born in 1930) to youngest (born in 1960). The composers she chose are accomplished and eclectic mix, including William Bolcom, John Corigliano, John Harbison, John Adams, Claude Baker, Dan Welcher, Shulamit Ran, Steven Stucky, Libby Larsen, John Zorn, James Mobberley, Richard Danielpour, David Lang, Sebastian Currier, and Aaron Kernis.

Her book stands out to me for two reasons. First, she writes each interview as if it were a monologue written by the composer him- or her-self. Gone is the Q&A format that I’ve read in other composer compendiums, which sometimes comes across as slightly tedious. Instead, it feels as though the composer is speaking directly to the reader, creating an unexpectedly intimate experience. McCutchan has done a remarkable job disappearing into the personality of each composer, leaving the reader to feel like a fly on the wall who is unobtrusively observing the composer at work.

Next, the composers go in-depth as they describe their compositional process. They talk about their organizational practices via note cards and colored file folders; they describe daily rituals and routines they go through to compose; they relate their innermost fears of failing to produce a well-written piece. Also intriguing are the details composers give on specific works they’ve written; for instance, John Corigliano’s description of how he devised ghost music for the opening scene of his opera The Ghosts of Versailles is wonderful food for thought on how to achieve a range of timbres. I’ve used this book in numerous classes for undergraduate composers, as it serves to quickly open their minds to a plethora of compositional methods that the students can explore. This book works particularly well when we follow up our in-class discussion of each composer by studying the works that the composers analyze in their chapters.

Composition in the Digital World: Conversations with 21^st-Century American Composers

By Robert Raines

Oxford University Press, 2015

Raines interviewed twenty-eight composers, whom he divided into four groupings: well-established, up-and-coming, those who came to the U.S. from other countries, and radical innovators. These designations yield an intriguing mixture of composers covering a wide range of aesthetics and approaches. His interviewees include Martin Bresnick, Michael Torke, Jennifer Higdon, David T. Little, Kevin Puts, Mohammed Fairouz, John Anthony Lennon, Chen Yi, Daniel Wohl, Eve Beglarian, Pamela Z, and Eric Whitace. Additionally, he interviewed several of the same composers that McCutchan did, including Michael Daugherty, Steve Reich, Libby Larsen, Aaron Kernis, Joan Tower, Christopher Rouse, and Bright Sheng. As the books are separated by twelve years, the reader gains a deeper understanding of how these particular composers and their composing methods have evolved over the intervening years.

Raines has two main goals for his compendium: first, these are not “academic essays” but rather informal conversations. This allows the discussions to be far-ranging, based on each composer’s unique character. Raines is a composer, which bodes well for his interviewees as well as for the readers. His chapters read like loosely structured, casual conversations between the composers and himself. Topics span from their compositional processes and how they use technology to their views on the declining situation for record companies, as well as how a composer can continue to make a living in a world that is growing accustomed to accessing music for free.

Next, Raines frames the conversations on how the digital age has affected each composer. This covers a wide range of uses for technology from the smallest amount possible to all-encompassing, depending on the composer: only using a computer to send email; having their music on SoundCloud or YouTube; using composer software to notate acoustic pieces; utilizing computer programs to create electronic works; incorporating technology into performance art; creating an online presence; sending scores and recordings electronically to performers; creating MIDI files to help performers learn new works; and so on. As Raines points out, we have all been touched and changed by the advent of digital media. So, how are we, as composers, adapting to it?

Additional Resources

Both books offer additional resources for the reader to explore. McCutchan asked each composer to choose several pieces that they feel are seminal in their output; she lists these works by category (small ensemble, large ensemble, stage, etc.) at the end of each chapter, along with a list of selected recordings. Raines also asked each composer to supply a list of works, although he required each composer to cap their list at twelve pieces; this requirement helped the composers focus on what they each consider to be the most important works in their output. Raines took full advantage of the digital age and asked each composer to supply additional materials for a companion website; each composer has a dedicated chapter that corresponds with the chapter number in Raines’ book. The content of the website ranges from videos and audio files to scores and program notes.

Both books are tremendous resources for composers of any age. I’ve found myself referencing Ann McCutchan’s book many times over the past decade, gaining fresh insights from the composers and questioning my own compositional process by studying the processes of others. I suspect I’ll be doing the same with Robert Raines’ book for many years to come.

Getting Back to My Roots: Adventures in Writing Jewish Music for Chicago a cappella

This month, I am featuring two blog posts that I wrote back in 2006-2007, long before I began www.composersinklings.com. My second blog post dates from December 4, 2007; Jonathan Miller, the artistic director of Chicago a cappella, asked if I would write an entry for his column on the (now defunct) ChicagoClassicalMusic.org website. I had recently written two works for Chicago a cappella, and he wanted me to blog about the composing experience for the pieces. When re-reading the blog post below, I find it ironic that I had pictured the two commissioned pieces to be a set; in the years since their creation, they have not yet been sung together on the same concert, though they are individually enjoying their share of performances. Sometimes, the life of a work doesn’t quite turn out to be what a composer expects!

Cedille Records' CD containing
Chicago a cappella singing
Lo Yisa Goy

An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse. Last spring, Jonathan Miller asked me if I’d accept a commission to write two new religious-themed works for Chicago a cappella’s 2007-08 season. Busy as my composing schedule is these days, I have a distinct weakness for writing choral works and will find a way to squeeze more time out of a day to write them. And who can refuse an opportunity to work with the singers of Chicago a cappella?!

Roots Run Deep. I have only set the texts of Edna St. Vincent Millay for choir up until now, so these two works were a real departure for me (and frankly one that has been long overdue). But even deeper than my obsession with Millay’s sonnets are the roots laid down in my childhood. Raised in a Jewish household, I grew up singing in the synagogue as well as in school choirs. Both singing and Judaism have run in my veins for a long time, and even though I no longer practice Judaism nor sing anywhere except the shower, these are the pillars that have shaped my life. 

How to Spin an Old, Familiar Song (or Two). I had three priorities for writing these two works: 1. Choose songs that had been part of my Jewish past; 2. The two songs could work as a set for future performances (past their respective premieres); and 3. The works needed to show off the tremendous capabilities of Chicago a cappella’s singers. Jonathan and I batted around some text possibilities, and I chose the celebratory Hava Nagila (which gets danced to at weddings and bat/bar mitzvahs), as well as the more somber Lo Yisa Goy (which is a prayer for peace). 

Since both of these are traditional Jewish folksongs, melodies already exist for each. I decided that I’d employ portions of the traditional melodies and surround these with new material. I won’t go into too many details here, but suffice it to say that I was determined to put my own spin on both of these two works. I left the Hava Nagila more or less intact, but added new material at the beginning and middle of the piece. With Lo Yisa Goy, I set the text in both Hebrew and English; just about all of the Hebrew was set using three traditional melodies, while I wrote original music for all of the English. Ultimately, both works provide the audience member with a certain level of familiarity packaged within a new framework.

Chicago a cappella Records'
recording of Hava Nagila

Take it From the Top… There were particular singers I kept in mind while writing – Susan Schober's and Betsy Grizzell’s strong mezzo voices, Trevor Mitchell's and Harold (Hoss) Brock’s amazing upper tenor registers, and Jonathan’s solid low bass notes (I didn’t realize until later that Jonathan was stepping down from his performing role in the group, although I was thrilled to hear Benjamin Rivera’s deep bass voice join the group). So when I attended a rehearsal of each piece prior to their premieres and finally heard the choir singing my pieces out loud, I felt like shouting for joy. Hoss particularly stunned me the first time I heard him sing the opening tenor solo in Lo Yisa Goy – I could put that snippet on my iPod and play it for a week straight. These rehearsals are vital to me because I get to see how the piece fits the group, and where the problem spots are (spots where my choral writing doesn’t work as smoothly as I thought, creating some trouble for the choir). Chicago a cappella’s singers were certainly not shy about bringing up the problem spots in the Hava Nagila, which I greatly appreciate and prefer over a choir that struggles in silence, and we had a most productive session problem-solving these measures.

Surprise, Surprise! Premiere performances are usually emotional roller-coaster rides for me, and I’m betting for the performers as well. At this point, there’s NOTHING a composer can do to help her or his piece – it is all in the hands (or in this case, voices) of the performers. Sometimes, this can be a real nail-biting experience. Thankfully, Chicago a cappella knows their stuff, and I didn’t even need to think about being nervous on their behalf. It also helped that right before they sang the Hava Nagila on their first Days of Awe and Rejoicing concert, Hoss spotted me in the audience and winked, which I took to mean that they’re ready to have fun with it, and they proved so moments later. Nonetheless, you never know how the audience will respond to a new piece. At the beginning of the Hava Nagila, the men sing with a very nasal quality. I thought of this as an interesting tone color following in the footsteps of composers like Gyorgy Ligeti and Luciano Berio. The audience, however, heard this opening as humorous, and their laughter took me completely by surprise. I can see the piece from the audience’s point of view, and it is just as viable as my interpretation. 

With Chicago a cappella in December 2014 after a
performance of Lo Yisa Goy.

The End of the Journey (or is it???) Ultimately, Jonathan Miller and Chicago a cappella are directly responsible for bringing these two pieces into existence. Without Jonathan’s offer of a commission, I never would have thought to set these Jewish folksongs. Composing any piece is a chance to explore some aspect of my life – in this case, my past. This exploration turned out to be a wonderful experience that revived and renewed my old appreciation for the music of Judaism. While this may be the end of my journey in writing these two works, my Hava Nagila and Lo Yisa Goy are now embarking on their own, hopefully long lives through the voices of Chicago a cappella and eventually other choirs. Jonathan, thank you for everything.

Newbie in the Studio: Top 10 Observations of the Recording Process

This month, I am featuring two blog posts that I wrote back in 2006-2007, long before I began www.composerinklings.com. My very first blog post dates from Oct. 21, 2006; I was invited by Cedille Records president James Ginsburg to write an entry for his column on the (now defunct) ChicagoClassicalMusic.org website. I had just experienced my very first recording session. It was with the Biava Quartet; they were recording my second string quartet for Cedille Records. When re-reading the blog post below, I get a kick reading how exuberant I was to be in those recording sessions!  I remember feeling like a kid in a candy store. Honestly, I still feel get a bit of that feeling whenever I step into a recording session. I've added commentary on my earlier thoughts in brackets.

On October 9^th and 10^th, Jim Ginsburg invited the Biava Quartet and I out to the WFMT studio to record my String Quartet No. 2: Demons and Angels.  This piece is being included on an upcoming CD for Cedille Records. The CD, entitled Composers in the Loft, features five composers who have had works performed on Fredda Hyman’s Music in the Loft chamber series. I have previously had a few works recorded professionally, but I’ve never been able to be present in such a session. For the Biava too (comprised of violinists Austin Hartman and Hyunsu Ko, violist Mary Persin, and cellist Jacob Braun), this professional recording session was a first. Jim asked me to write a blog entry about the recording experience, which I decided to do as a top ten list of my observations. Here they are, in no particular order:

Cedille Records' CD, containing the
Biava Quartet's recording sessions for my
String Quartet No. 2: Demons and Angels

1. Time gobblers. The spots that ate up the most recording time all involved transparent or exposed textures in my music. Unisons, octaves, pizzicati (when two or more people had to perform them simultaneously) all gobbled up seconds. Which increased to minutes. Will this change how I compose in the future? Nope, but I’ll surely look at exposed spots with a new appreciation for the work performers have to pour into these places to make the music shine. [In retrospect, I can say that I did start composing differently after these recording sessions – I was a lot more careful about exposed unisons, octaves, and pizzicati.]

2. Two peas in a pod. Jim Ginsburg and Bill Maylone worked together like a well-oiled machine – easy to tell these two have been doing recording sessions for a long, long time (seeing such expertise at work makes any newbie feel like you’re in good hands). And they also gave my ears a real challenge. What do I mean by this? Read on…

3. Teaching your old ears new tricks, or at least how to listen like a CD producer/engineer. In a live performance, I’m concerned about hearing the big picture – long lines, overall shaping of phrases, etc. But in a recording session, the focus is on vertical listening. Did everyone’s downbeat line up? How’s the tuning in beat 2? Whose bow hit the music stand? Who is breathing loudly? And so on. Stuff I would never even pay attention to in a live performance, since the piece is unfolding linearly, suddenly became ultra-important. Which leads to…

4. The balancing act. The main issue with recording a piece is finding the balance between the work’s overall musical shape and the moment-by-moment accuracy. A process emerged: the Biava would record each movement in a single take. Then they’d join us in the recording booth, and everyone dissected the take while listening to the playback. These full takes helped give Jim and Bill a chance to hear how the Biava shaped the material (in addition, Jim had meticulously studied the entire score beforehand). Then the nitty-gritty work began – the Biava would record each movement in short blocks, sometimes 5-10 times each, before moving onto the next block.  I have to admit to feeling dazed by the end of the process, and I think the Biava shared a bit of the same feeling – we knew everything got recorded, but how will Jim and Bill sift through the assortment of the magical moments and perfect tunings to fit all the short blocks into a cohesive movement with the same mood as what you get in a single take? From what I experienced in the recording booth, as well as from the quality of Cedille’s catalog, Jim and Bill are experts solving this dilemma in a most artistic manner. They’ll find that balance. 

The Biava Quartet

5. The awe-inspiring endurance of 20-somethings. The Biava played each day for about 4 hours total, going over two and a half hours before a lunch break, and without a single request to sit down and rest. By the way, everyone but Jacob stood for the entire recording session – they’re more comfortable performing this way, and it certainly works well for their sound. I’d like to think I had this much energy when I was 25.

6. Who’s the pickiest of them all? No matter how much I thought I, or one of the recording team, was being picky about a pitch or passage, the Biava would step up their self-criticism when something wasn’t to their liking. Didn’t matter how many times they’ve already played a passage, or how tired they might be getting. Austin, Hyunsu, Mary, and Jacob were very, very demanding on themselves. Which definitely made them hungry for…

7. Lunch! Stopping to reload everyone’s energy in the WFMT cafeteria was a must, particularly when the cafeteria stocks tasty double chocolate chip cookies (true on the first day, but not the second).

8. Coffee! Not everyone drank the stuff, but Austin found a machine in the cafeteria which supplied something better than I thought should be coming out of a machine.

9. What a composer can do in the recording booth? At first, I felt a bit useless in the booth – the Biava was exerting tons of energy in the studio, Jim and Bill were busy with the recording machines and taking notes, and all I had to do was listen, score and notepad in hand. It didn’t take long to figure out that’s exactly the best way to be useful for all of us. It certainly helped when I developed some shorthand scribbles to take note of spots that worked well or needed to be touched up. Which leads me to my final item…

10.  Enjoying the moment. Every now and then, I’d take a mental step out of the session and appreciate what was going on – all these people are here because they believe in what I wrote. Pretty amazing. But better not to enjoy the moment for too long, else I’d not be doing the heavy duty listening to keep up with Jim, Bill, and the Biava!

Now that the session is over, Jim and Bill go to work on all those hours of tape. The Biava and I will eagerly await getting CDs in the mail for us all to proof, and which will be a testament to the amazing sessions we had in early October. My most heartfelt thanks go to Jim, Bill, Austin, Hyunsu, Mary, Jacob, for all of their work to bring the piece alive, and of course to Fredda Hyman, for without her series to bring us all together, we never would have all found each other.

Composer Challenges 2.0

Last January, I designed a list of challenges (found in my blog 13 Challenges in 13 Weeks) for my composition students at Roosevelt University. These challenges helped students explore their full range of artistic abilities, consider future collaborations with artists in different disciplines, learn how to program repertoire for concerts, and articulate their short- and long-term goals. This semester I have devised a new set of challenges aimed at giving students experience in (mostly) entrepreneurial projects. Unless otherwise indicated, each challenge takes one week to complete.

           

Your C.V. and Biography

1. Write your Curriculum Vitae; include your full list of works in it. On your C.V., make sure you include your education, teaching experience, awards/academic honors, upcoming/recent performances, and professional experience either as a composer or performer, or both. Add an attractive header to the top of the first page that includes your name and contact information. For each piece on your list of works, indicate the year completed, instrumentation, and duration. If you have enough works to separate into categories, then divide up the works as you see fit (i.e. large ensemble, chamber ensemble, choir, electroacoustic, etc.). For both the C.V. and works list, put your most recent activities and works first, then list older items in reverse chronological order.

2. Drawing upon the activities listed on your Curriculum Vitae, write a 400-450 word biography; then write a shortened 200 word biography. You should maintain both long and short biographies throughout your career. Until you’ve accumulated enough musical experiences to fill out your bios, feel free to mention other activities that you do – performing, conducting, singing in a barbershop quartet, dog walking for superstars, etc. – or tell the story of your background and how you began composing.

Designing Websites

3. Professional composer sites: Select two of the following composers and study their websites; find a third composer’s website of your choosing. Discuss what you find particularly effective or innovative. How does the layout of the site look to you? Is it easy to navigate? Is there anything that they didn’t include on the website that you wish they had, or anything that you found confusing?

Mason Bates            http://www.masonbates.com/

Ted Hearne               http://www.tedhearne.com/

Jake Heggie              http://jakeheggie.com/

Jennifer Higdon       http://jenniferhigdon.com/

Libby Larsen             http://libbylarsen.com/

John Mackey            http://www.ostimusic.com/

Missy Mazzoli           http://www.missymazzoli.com/

Andrew Norman      http://andrewnormanmusic.com/

4. Younger composer sites: Select three of these graduates of Roosevelt University and study their websites. Discuss what you find particularly effective or innovative. How does the layout of the site look to you? Is it easy to navigate? Is there anything that they didn’t include on the website that you wish they had, or anything that you found confusing?

Clarice Assad             http://www.clariceassad.com/

Brian Baxter              http://brianbaxtermusic.com/

Ed Davis                     http://www.efdavis.com/

John Dorhauer          http://johndorhauer.com/

Amy Beth Kirsten      http://www.amybethkirsten.com/

Eric Malmquist          https://ericmalmquist.wordpress.com/

5. Design a website for yourself. You can do this as a PowerPoint presentation, or using web-based software, or even draw a series of hand-drawn pictograms with text. No matter how you choose to do it, provide a home page with a menu to navigate to your site’s other pages. Decide what other pages you want to include, such as your list of works, your biography, etc. Fill out information for each of these pages. You have two weeks to complete this challenge; show your progress at your lesson in the 1^st week, with the final product due in the 2^nd week.

Video Game & Film Music

Choose to focus on either video game or film music for challenges #6-8. No switching from one genre to the other between challenges.

6. There are two steps to this challenge. First, find two composers’ websites within your chosen genre; carefully go through their websites. What kinds of activities do they do? What games or films have they written music for? Can you find any evidence of what helped them get on their career path – perhaps they had graduate school training in film, or did several projects with a particular film director when they first started out? Next, make a list of three or more books on how to create music on your chosen genre. For each book, provide the title, author, publisher, and year published.

7. Find a 30-45 second clip of a video game or film that doesn’t have any (or minimal) dialogue for which you’ll compose a soundtrack. Ascertain the clip’s mood and pacing. What tempo does the pacing of the scene suggest? What emotions does it evoke? What kind of instrumentation can you hear accompanying it? Should the music be lush, full, and romantic, or high, thin, and tense? …And so on. Use Sibelius, Finale, or another music program to compose music for your clip. Make sure you’ve synched the video with your new audio.

8. You’ll be using the same video/movie clip as you did in the previous week; now create entirely new music for the clip. Capture another aspect of the scene than you did the first time.

Social Media Campaigns

9. Find one Kickstarter music campaign that interests you; also, find one Indiegogo music campaign. These campaigns can either be current or have already concluded (with or without having attained funding). What aspects do you like about each campaign? What aspects weren’t as successful? How did each person/group make the best use of the Kickstarter and Indiegogo platforms? Make sure you read about how Kickstarter and Indiegogo work so you understand their similarities and differences.

10. Create an idea for either a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign. This can be anything: funding professionals to perform at your degree recital, raising money to attend a summer festival, financing a commercial recording, etc. Decide on the amount of money you’re trying to raise, then write a blurb about why you’re doing the project and what you’ll use the money for. Devise your list of perks – have at least four different perk levels (you can have more than this, but not less). Use either Kickstarter’s or Indiegogo’s online format for these; just don’t go live with your project. You have two weeks to complete this challenge; show your progress at your lesson in the 1^st week, with the final product due in the 2^nd week.

Finding Your Own Way

11. Research and present two or three ways that you can use your musical talents to earn money. These can be a business you want to start, an organization you wish to join, or a line of work you’d like to pursue. Each has to provide you with an income (it can’t be pro bono work).

Selecting a Graduate School Composition Program

An undergraduate degree serves as a wonderful way not only to get a firm grasp on the components of music composition, but also to develop one’s critical thinking and the ability to write papers (which comes in handy when putting together a grant proposal to compose a new work). I find that graduate school composition programs serve a different purpose.

What is the best composition program for you to do graduate work? It depends on what you want to do when you graduate. First, let’s consider a few factors you should weigh when picking a school; then we’ll look at a few possible career paths, and how these paths can impact your graduate training.

Performance-Based Schools versus Research-Based Schools

There are two principal career paths for composers: performance-based and research-based. Performance-based music schools offer degrees in instrumental and vocal performance, as well as in music composition, theory, history, and sometimes ethnomusicology. The size of the student body depends on the scope of the conservatory or school of music, but it is likely that the larger the school, the more graduate assistantships there will be. These assistantships are usually for teaching, but some are given to cover other types of work within the music school (such as orchestral librarian or music copyist for the composition faculty).  These can cover part or all of your tuition; some also include stipends for living expenses. Schools that have multiple orchestras and wind ensembles will typically have multiple teaching assistantships in composition and music theory (among other subjects). Depending on the school, students can also be offered scholarships without any teaching duties attached.

Research-based graduate programs offer degrees in theoretical subjects (composition, music theory, music history, and ethnomusicology); these generally do not have performers walking the halls. Their funding can be very substantial, with some schools offering enough funding for both tuition and living expenses without any teaching duties attached for the entire duration of one’s degree program. While it can be a wonderful gift to be given enough funding so that you don’t have to have a job while in school, you might find it beneficial to seek a program that gives you some amount of teaching experience if you plan to eventually teach at a university or college.

The Composition Faculty

As you sort through research- and performance-based schools, check out who is on the composition faculty. Research these composers’ music via their websites and listen to their music. Study their scores, too, if you can. Do you like what you hear? Does the faculty offer an interesting diversity of musical styles? Do you feel that you have something to learn from one or more faculty members? If you have an interest in writing choral music, is there someone on the faculty who has written a body of choral works? How about operas? …and so on. Basically, you’ll be spending a lot of one-on-one time with these composition teachers, and you want to make sure you’re choosing a school with faculty that you believe can help you develop your skills. It is quite common for prospective students to contact professors in advance of applying to inquire about a school’s composition program and see if it offers what you’re looking for. (Before you do this, however, first check out the school’s website – most composition programs have webpages that discuss degree requirements, extracurricular activities, and application procedures.) If you’re curious to see how you might work with a particular professor, ask if you can meet with him/her for a composition lesson. It is best not to ask for a lesson on the school’s audition weekend – the faculty will likely have packed schedules interviewing prospective students and won’t have time for any add-on meetings – so if you will be in town at another point during the year, set up a time to meet.

Post-Grad School Route #1: Teach at a College or University

It can be very rewarding to pass on your knowledge to students. Not only can you help shape upcoming generations of composers, but you’ll also sharpen your own composing skills in the process of teaching. In order to be competitive in today’s tough job market, you will need to earn a doctorate in composition. This usually means that you need to get a master’s degree first, though there are several graduate programs (mostly in research-based institutions) that allow you to get both degrees in less time than it would take if you attended two separate schools to obtain the degrees. To help make yourself more attractive for potential academic jobs, consider getting a minor in a secondary topic in order to expand your teaching portfolio. Music theory, electroacoustic music, conducting, and ethnomusicology all are good areas; instrumental or vocal performance can also be useful.

Also, make sure that you go to a school that will give you actual teaching experience in which you are the primary instructor, versus an assistantship that consists of mostly grading assignments with perhaps the opportunity to get in front of the class once or twice per semester. Teaching for one to two years in composition or music theory is a good start; more is better if you can get it. Try to get both classroom and studio lesson experience. If you walk into a job interview and show you know how to confidently handle students, you’re in a much stronger position to obtain the job than someone who has never stepped in front of a classroom before.

Post-Grad School Route #2: Freelance Composer 

If you plan to jump directly into the professional world and freelance, then you are seeking a different set of skills. Look for schools that offer classes in music entrepreneurship. Of particular interest, seek classes that offer the basics of website creation and self-publishing, strategies for marketing your works as well as creating commission opportunities, recording techniques, organizing crowd-funding campaigns, and how to establish and run for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Learn about and experiment with various income revenue streams, both non-commercial and commercial. While it is possible to learn everything that I’ve mentioned outside of the university system, it is worthwhile to hone your music business skills while in school. After all, when you graduate and start a freelance career, you are in charge of running your own career, which you should view as a business.

Another important factor is to find a school that will give you a lot of performance opportunities. You need to compose a lot of works and learn as much as you can from every piece you write. Develop relationships with your fellow students and write pieces for them; your peers will go out and create careers of their own, hopefully performing your music and commissioning you for new works over the years. Go further than this and form relationships with professionals outside of the school. Collaborate with local artists, and set up concerts in non-school venues. Basically, you are trying to establish yourself as a professional so that when you transition out of college, you already have a network in place that will work with you on future collaborations and perform your music.

Also, figure out what kind of works you want to write or what field of music you’d like to go into after graduation. If you’re interested in writing orchestra music or opera, then seek out schools that have reading sessions or performance opportunities. If you want to go into video game or film music, then find masters programs that offer classes in these areas.

For Both Route #1 and #2: Carefully Consider Taking on Debt 

No matter which route you choose, do everything you can to take on as few loans as possible while in school. The majority of composers find it difficult to solely support themselves from compositional activities upon graduation for several years. You’ll likely need to find a job within the months following graduation to cover living expenses and start paying back any student loans you have accumulated; depending on what job you get, you might not have a lot of time to compose. The best way you can set yourself up for a future as a composer is to find a school that will give you a scholarship or grant to cover at least some (or more) of your expenses. If you need additional money, try to take on the smallest student loan possible. You can make supplemental income while in school by doing copy work for professional composers (you’ve already perfected your notation skills, right? put them to use!), tutoring students in music theory, accompanying vocal students in their lessons, and playing gigs around town. If you’ve got experience in recording techniques, then you can make extra money by recording your fellow students’ degree recitals. Look at all of your skill sets, musical and non-musical, and see how you can create multiple revenue streams that will allow you to support yourself.

Wrap-Up

The best strategy in navigating a graduate degree in composition is to consider what you want to get out of it before you apply. Picture what you want your composing career to consist of five or ten years from now. Make a list of the types of projects, pieces, and teaching experience you need in to make that future happen. Then research schools to find programs that will cover what you need. You will get a lot more out of a graduate school education if you know ahead of time what you’re looking for.