Posting Date: April 1, 2011
Kennesaw State to showcase student composers
Performance features both student composers and musicians
By Megan Roberts
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KSU student composer Steven Melin
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On April 8 at 8 p.m. in the Performance Hall of the Dr. Bobbie Bailey & Family Performance Center, the Kennesaw State University School of Music will present a free concert spotlighting student composers. The four student composers presenting their work are Brett S. Kelly, Johnny Bezama-Carvajal, Steven Melin and Zachary Goad.
All four students study with Laurence Sherr, KSU composer-in-residence and associate professor. Sherr explains that the students getting a chance to have their work performed is of tremendous benefit. He says, “They are working on the ability to write music that connects with the audience.” At least four of the pieces are world premieres.
Kelly’s piece, “Torus,” is an abstract guitar piece that incorporates different types of technique and the layering of certain kinds of sound. As a guitar player, Kelly drew from his own playing and the playing of others to compose his piece.
Two of Bezama-Carvajal’s compositions will be featured. The first, titled “Elegie,” is written for flute, violin, viola and cello and is an elegy in memory of one of Bezama-Carvajal’s family members. The second piece, written for cello, is “Lament II.”
“Woodwind Quintet No. 1: The Four Elements” is a woodwind quintet by Melin. Each movement is inspired by one of the four elements of nature: earth, water, air and fire.
Goad’s “String Quartet No. 1” will conclude the evening. The quartet includes two violins, a viola and a cello. Goad’s piece is inspired by particular music he likes, such as the work of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich.
On composing, Sherr explains, “Composers have a vision of a particular kind of unfolding of art either in space or time, and when they create it, it allows them to manifest that so someone else can experience it." The concert is free and open to the public.