"Mind Game"

October 10, 2005 at 6:37 PM

Composing has always been something I've really enjoyed but never done seriously with any goals in mind. In 2001, when I joined a youth orchestra in my area the conductor (also a well known composer) proposed a challenge to all of us eager musicians, we could write a piece for any combination of the orchestra and the youth symphony would not only play it in rehearsal and work out the bugs but the orchestra would also perform the work(s) as part of their annual spring tour! This sounded really exciting and interesting to me. I wasn't sure it was something I could do though so I didn't seriously think about it until a little later. That season started going by and a couple of pieces were submitted to be played, one written by a good friend of mine who was only a couple of months older than I. After hearing these student works (which to me sounded like really amazing compositions!) I got inspired to work on one over the summer for the following season. And so my love affair with composing began. That season the youth symphony premiered a piece I wrote for the strings section of the orchestra and I even got to conduct it! I did some more composing and actually completed a few works over that year (one of which included a suite for solo violin) and come the 03/04 symphony season I had my second work, "Mind Game" completed and ready to try. I was a little more adventurous with this work than I was with the one for string orchestra. It got it's title for several tempo, meter and key changes. I jump lines around different instruments and like to build ideas. The piece, because of the time constraints on the work and the wealth of ideas and things I had in my mind ended up becoming a mish-mash of ideas that all added to the "game." I got to conduct this piece (and it is me who is conducting in this recording) and I actually had to practice it! There's not simple, straight-forward 4/4 or 3/4 time signatures, I had to make it a little more complicated. The piece was a lot of fun to write and I really enjoyed the experience of putting it together.

There's a link for Mind Game in my media section and to the right of this screen.

From Carley Anderson
Posted on October 11, 2005 at 11:59 AM

That's nice, Kelsey!

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"Mind Game"

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