Experiencing the ASTA Conference with Composer Lauren Spavelko

April 11, 2024, 6:24 PM · Music educators of all kinds were able to enjoy more workshops, performances, exhibits and connections than ever last month when the American String Teacher Association combined forces with the Suzuki Association of the Americas for their first ever co-located conference, which took place from March 20-23, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky.

But for composer Lauren Spavelko, it was a landmark event for a different reason: this conference represented the most her music has ever been performed or presented in a single event. From a National Orchestra Festival performance to reading sessions to presentations on violin repertoire and chamber music, Spavelko’s music was heard and shared throughout the conference.

"It was the first time I encountered people who knew my music before they met me," Spavelko said. "It was surprising and fun. I like discovering that my music has been places I haven’t."

Spavelko is a composer and music educator based in Columbus, Ohio. In her Musical Life studio, she teaches voice, piano, violin, and composition, and she is also a professor at Otterbein University, where she teaches theory and piano skills for musical theater. This year, she attended the ASTA conference in one of her newest roles, as the Co-Coordinator for the chamber music database of the Institute for Composer Diversity. This is a wonderful resource for musicians of all kinds who want to discover new composers - I highly suggest checking it out!

Lauren Spavelko at the Institute for Composer Diversity booth in the ASTA/SAA Exhibit Hall, with fellow composer Rob Deemer.

Spavelko was initially attending to be at the Institute’s booth in the exhibit hall, but as the conference schedule took shape, she realized that this was going to be an exciting conference for her own music: Two of her orchestral pieces were being performed or read, and she had both a chamber piece and a solo violin piece included in pedagogical presentations.

First was a performance of her piece Journey by the North Star by the Pickerington North Philharmonic (from Pickerington, Ohio) as part of the National Orchestral Festival on Thursday. The performance was directed by Jordan Koogler, and it has a great story behind it. Koogler commissioned the piece to honor Suzuki teacher and orchestra director Linda Stieg. Stieg is retired now, but she spent years building the orchestra program in Pickerington. Stieg was also the person who taught Spavelko how to play the violin!

Retired teacher Linda Stieg and composer Lauren Spavelko (her former student!), at the 2024 ASTA/SAA Conference

And to add to that, at this particular performance, Stieg's grandson was the concertmaster!

Spavelko created the piece as a rondo (ABACADA), with a basic "North Star" theme, which is meant to "lead the ship across the sea," while more advanced students introduce new musical ideas, such as the ship sailing, stormy seas, and a sea monster.

One thing that makes this work for string orchestra unique is that it is composed for multi-level and/or side-by-side orchestra, with beginner, intermediate, and advanced options for each part. While the Pickerington North Philharmonic performed the "advanced ensemble" version, there are six possible ensemble configurations for the piece - perfect for an orchestra with a wide range of levels, or an orchestral side-by-side event combining groups from different ensembles.

"I thought they did a fantastic job," Spavelko said. "The ensemble balanced well, and I could really hear the journey of the ship across the sea."

Jordan Koogler and the Pickerington North Philharmonic, at the 2024 ASTA/SAA Conference.

On the same day, another string orchestra piece, Dance the Sky, was featured in an orchestra reading session. Spavelko noted that many attendees at the reading session enjoyed the lyrical lines, as well as the chamber music section featuring soloists before the last tutti section of the piece. After the session, she reflected, "The motion and lyricism of the music put me in mind of winging through the sky. The title is inspired by a verse from John Gillespie Magee’s poem, 'High Flight (An Airman’s Ecstasy).' I'm glad the tenderness and intimacy was felt and enjoyed by the players in the reading session, too."

On Friday morning, I featured one of Spavelko’s pieces for unaccompanied violin, Tar Hollow, in my presentation, "Creating a Diverse Repertoire Sequence for Intermediate Violinists."

Lauren and I, after my presentation.

I first met Lauren at the 2019 inaugural Boulanger Initiative festival in Washington, DC, and started following her shortly after that - so in 2020, when she published Tar Hollow, I was eager to explore unaccompanied repertoire during lockdown.

It is a wonderfully warm and gentle piece to play, and I included it in my presentation as a recommendation for a first unaccompanied piece for an intermediate level student. It includes some fairly friendly double-stops and only ventures beyond third position once, in the context of a G Major arpeggio (though performers are welcome to create their own fingerings!).

Finally, Spavelko’s chamber piece Mosaic was featured in Rebekah Hanson’s presentation on chamber music by female composers (as well as an American String Teacher journal article on the same topic).

Rebekah Hanson and Lauren Spavelko, with the sheet music for "Mosaic."

This chamber piece can be performed as a trio, quartet, or a quintet/string orchestra piece, and it has a very interesting back story: "Mosaic's beauty lies in its fracture," Spavelko said. "After a fast month of composing, my laptop — carrying my most recent work — was stolen. I lost half the piece. Creating was challenging; re-creating was impossible. I recollected fragments —a line, but not its context; a section, but not with the same flow; a contour, but not its precise pitches. It cannot be the same. Inevitably, I needed to let go, to create anew, to respond to the pieces all over again and fashion them into a different picture."

Reflecting on her conference experience as a whole, Spavelko shared that her music comes directly from connection, community, and partnerships and that she hopes more teachers will connect with her and other composers to continue creating new music.

"Jordan invited me to do this commission for Pickerington because I'm deeply connected to the community and because I could create a truly one-of-a-kind work and experience for them," Spavelko told me. "These students got to see me come into their rehearsal room and travel to meet them at ASTA. In the orchestra, there is a young violist-composer who is recently studying with me. She performed my piece and watched me coach the orchestra from within it. I didn't have a model like myself - a living composer, let alone a woman - when I was in her chair. It's meaningful to me that I get to be that person for her now, and someday I hope it becomes unremarkable because these experiences will be common."

Spavelko had also worked with my own private students, and she expressed that this is another valuable way to connect: composer to private studio.

"It's not only ensemble directors that can create these collaborations! As a private teacher myself, I know how easy it can be to operate as an island, and I know how wonderful it is to invite new ideas and new people to work with my students," Spavelko said. "I loved creating new solo works with and for your students. I could also see a project for studio group performances too. I think consortium projects among orchestras and among studio teachers can also be a wonderful model to support creating new work, to make it more accessible and affordable, and to foster more connectedness and collaboration."

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You can contact Lauren or learn more about her music at her website, lespavelko@gmail.com.

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Experiencing the ASTA Conference with Composer Lauren Spavelko

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