Stories from teaching composition in public schools
My Young Composers are finished writing their own composition and are now preparing to perform for their school friends, teachers and parents. Because music making is a group activity, I teach them on how to work together as a team, to stay focused and attentive during the performance, and to follow the directions of the conductor. They take turns conducting each other in large group works.
Sasha and Jade are the most difficult to engage. They are best friends in the worst sense. They sit together, whispering to each other or literally fall asleep at their desks. I have to wake Jade on a regular basis. Over the course of the residency, they grudgingly pretend to write a composition together. Hoping to encourage them, I ask them to come to the front of the class and play their piece for the other students. They slowly slouch forward, bumping into each other, and fuss with the music.
I wonder why I am bothering. Why don’t I ignore them altogether? But I persist.
I find I teach as much about performance as I do composition. The act of performance is complex and is a metaphor for being visible. It takes poise and maturity. These sixth graders, on the cusp of adolescence, are, frankly, a mess. They slump. They begin playing suddenly when everyone is talking. They grab their music and march off the stage before the last note is played. They burst into giggles at any hint of a mistake.
I work patiently with each set of composers-now-performers, reminding them how to show respect for themselves, their creation and their audience.
Sasha and Jade are no exception. As they perform for the class they have several false starts. They get half way through the piece and grind to a halt. I drill them again and again. There is a lot of smirking as they move back to their seats. They are not going to give me an inch.
The pair drives me to distraction, but somehow, miraculously, they finish a work called Dance of Creation. At the performance they hold themselves a little bit straighter than I have ever seen them. I hold my breath, but they are fine. They perform their piece and it is all theirs.
As the applause sweeps over them, they stand there accepting the hard-won praise. Sasha’s lip curls and Jade’s face shines. They suddenly recognize their accomplishment, and I am so proud of them.
Excerpted from Grief’s Grace, A Memoir by Tina Davidson
YOUNG COMPOSERS PROGRAM
Tina Davidson created Young Composers program to teach students to compose their own music through instrument building, graphic and invented notation. Designed to enhance self-esteem and reinforce achievement through alternative measures of expression, the course culminates with a performance of the students’ compositions.
Compositions to perform with students
PAPER, GLASS, STRING & WOOD
A side-by-side work to perform with student string musicians or string orchestra. This four-movement work was created so that young or amateur musicians have the opportunity to rehearse and perform with professional string performers.
Listen: https://soundcloud.com/tina-davidson-3/paper-from-triples-string
FIRST LIGHT
Beginning string players and string quartet or string orchestra
Created for beginning string players to perform with professional string orchestra, the work opens up with a plaintive melody for the young players. As each string section is slowly added, the work concludes with a joyous finale.
