Semi-annual composer's concert highlights students' musical works

Eight premieres in one night is pretty good for any music hall.

Hearing all of them for free is extraordinary.

The Composer's Concert -- featuring student composers presenting a broad range of works at 8 p.m. Sunday in Recital Hall -- is just such an event.

"It will be the widest variety of musical styles in central Pa.," said Paul Barsom, a professor of music composition.

The concert, which occurs once each semester, highlights the work and progress of students in the music composition major, as well as those students outside of the major who have shown a strong interest in writing music.

"The purpose of the concert is to give the composer a chance to perform their work and have it recorded," Barsom said. "It's also a chance to experiment."

For the composers themselves, the concert is an outlet for creativity and provides them with a means for exposure.

"There really aren't that many opportunities for composers to perform," said Michael Kosak (senior-music composition).

"This is definitely one of the most rewarding," he added.

The concert is a chance to build up a portfolio, which is important to young composers competing to get into graduate schools or trying to find work, he said.

Kosak also explained the intrinsic gain of having one's pieces performed.

"You're exposing your soul to other people with your music," he said. "It's one of the more intimate forms of communication. It's excruciating in a way, but it's also a great reward."

Events such as these help its participants grow as artists, said Martin Graff (junior-music composition).

"The concert gives its composers experience in the whole process of writing a piece and then having it performed," Graff said. "You harvest your talents to the best of your ability."

Graff has been playing the piano since age four and won the Fall 1994 Synergy talent show in Schwab Auditorium. There is a particular pressure felt when performing one's own work, he said.

"You really have to over-prepare," Graff said. "On a scale of one to 10, if you feel your preparation is at a 10, your performance will probably be at a seven or an eight. Concerts like these help to build your overall confidence."

One of the students having her work performed is Sarah Wilkes (graduate-music composition). Events like these are directly related to the composer's profession, Wilkes said.

"Our real goal is to have our work accepted and played in real concerts," Wilkes said.

Many music departments are hesitant to have new, original works performed outside of the medium of composers' concerts, she said.

The coordinators of the concerts fear that people will not attend if they haven't heard the music before, she added.

The concert will consist of pieces by Kosak, Graff and Wilkes, as well as fellow composers David Shotsberger, Daniel Eichenbaum and Vijay Hariharan.