Julliard Composers Concert-Original Compositions Performed by Fellow Students

The Julliard Composers Concerts are the highlight of all the extraordinary performances to be enjoyed by the public; for free.  I'm staggered by the talented young artists' original compositions performed by their fellow students.  I urge everyone to attend these free concerts that are creative outlets for displaying the talents of young composers & young musicians working together.  There were 6 compositions on tonights' program.  Each composure introduced their piece explaining their inspirations.  All the performances demonstrated budding geniuses.  I will highlight 3 of the 6 works.  Nicky Sohn composed The Real Princes inspired by Hans Christian Anderson story, the Princess & the Pea.  She composed for the following instruments:  violin, viola, cello, bass, flute clarinet, piano, percussion and tenor, for whom she wrote lyrics.  The composition was conucted by fellow student Robert Garza III.  The music underscored the vocalist and established the fairy tell whimsy invoked by the story.  Sohn showed mulitple skills in composition, arranging & storytelling.  My personal favorite was Will Healy's "Do You Live on a Star Too?"  Healy explained he was drawn to a photo taken from outer space looking back at our planet which "appears as a beautiful blue dot of light among the stars."  The piece was for a piano & marimba duo.  The music evoked a walk in space; free floating and dazzling.  Joseph Yungen gave a virtuoso performance on the marimba.  The final piece on the program was Will Stackpole's 2 Miles from Here, influence by Miles Davis' "method for creating small ensemble jazz music."  He featured 2 trumpets, french horn and 2 trombones.  The reference to Davis was ambigious but he improvised the brass quintet into interesting melodies and harmonies.  The Composers Concerts is the most thrillling of the school's performances, highlighting original  compositions performed by Julliard's students.  The next concert is in Nov.  No tickets required.