Taking musical notes by the book

VICTORIA BARBER

September 19, 2008 at 1:58PM AKST

Fairbanks composer Cheryl Green led a Unalaska composition workshop at the Unalaska United Methodist Church Sept. 3-6.

The workshop was sponsored by the Aleutian Arts Council and organized by local musician and music teacher Lynda Lybeck Robinson, who called the event “a tremendous success.”

“Much inspiration was the result, as well as some melodically and rhythmically interesting and well-executed pieces,” said Lybeck Robinson, who plans to facilitate a composition workshop every year as part of the new nonprofit Hearts and Hands, which was founded to encourage music opportunities on the island.

About 30 students, from elementary-school age to adult, were broken into age groups and met on different days of the week. The groups were then further broken down into teams of two, who would work together to prepare a piece for the final concert.

Knowing that many of the students already had experience with music theory and the technical aspects of composition, Lybeck Robinson and Green had decided to take a slightly different approach for the workshop.

Green brought in a selection of books and had the students focus on working through stories and pictures. The books ranged in subject from mythical dwarves and fairies, to images of Alaska landscapes, to children’s books such as the classic “Curious George.”

“We wanted to do something different, because they’re already composing music and we wanted to give them a different approach,” said Green. “A lot of time when we approach music from the analytical perspective, we limit ourselves. It doesn’t have to start on tonic and move to dominant, then back to tonic.”

As the groups worked on their compositions Green rotated among them to polish their pieces for the final concert on Sept. 6. Green said as she worked with them, the students seemed completely immersed in the creative process.

“They were extremely attentive, just hanging on to every word I spoke. They were very into it and they really wanted to learn,” said Green.

In addition to finding inspiration in art and storytelling, Green encouraged the students to explore new ways of making music with the piano, such as plucking the strings inside the piano or hitting them with a mallet, or laying a book on top of the strings to make a “twang.”

Students also experimented with playing the piano in new ways. In one piece, based on a mythical underwater scene, two students slammed their forearms down on keys to simulate the sound of a big splash.

While the workshops were intensive, Green said she got calls well into the evening from parents who were amazed to have to tell their children to stop practicing and go to bed.

“When you inspire a student to where they don’t want to get off, where they don’t want to stop – that says success to me,” said Green.

Kiara Villamor, 8, said that the workshop was “AWE-some. It was really active and fun.” Amber Le, 9, said “it was the first time to meet another composer besides Ms. Lynda who could show me different ways to compose and be creative.”

Cynthia Drayton, 12, she liked making songs using pictures from a book. “Cheryl had a lot of energy,” said Drayton.

Green said that she believes teaching students to compose is a critical step to getting them to think beyond the classics and into a new era.

“You never know — some of these kids might grow up and compose music for movies, commercials ... with new technology moving the way it is, we can’t stick to our Bach and Beethoven anymore.” Green said. “Most of the time students only play dead people’s music. If we want music to grow and develop into the next millennium we need to teach our students that they can create.”

Green said that by the final concert, the music came together in a way that was “like a miracle” – calling it more colorful, brilliant and polished than the rehearsals. She said the success, and the very existence, of the composition workshop was a testament to the arts community on Unalaska.

“I was just impressed with a place like Unalaska and the caliber of their arts council, coming together to support something like this,” Green said. “This is something that even larger cities have difficulty doing. … My hat’s off to the AAC.”

Victoria Barber can be reached at 907-348-2424 or 800-770-9830, ext. 424.