Living composers writing music for our students
January 24th, 2006 by etobias
After posting about living composers writing new music for students on the other site I blog on, I found an excellent letter to the editor written by composer Michael Colgrass on newmusicbox regarding the same article that first prompted my post. Mr. Colgrass’s website includes letters students have written to him along with his replies, as well as some writings of his regarding creativity and music education. It may be possible that various initiatives to have composers writing music for school music programs in the past are now being revived and updated. Hopefully the trend of composers writing music specifically for young people and wanting to engage with them will continue.
Have you ever considered having your students write letters to a composer? Ever wondered what it would be like to commission a piece for one of your ensembles and have the composer work with your students? Would your students enjoy meeting a person who writes music for a living? Why not forge a new relationship with a composer this year? Here’s to a new era of relationships between living composers, music educators and our music students.