“Composer or performer?”
For the last three days, this phrase has become just as routine as “What is your name?” and “Nice to meet you”; however, it causes me a great deal more grief than these pleasantries ever have. I am definitely not a composer; that part of the binary is pretty easy to square away. But do I dare to call myself a performer?
I am currently participating, apparently as a performer, in Music10, a two-week-long festival of contemporary music held at the Hindemith Foundation Music Centre in Blonay, Switzerland. The goal of the festival is to bring together young composers and performers – thus the all-important question, “Composer or performer?” The composers write pieces for the performers beforehand; the performers put on several concerts dedicated to these new works at the end of the festival.
The glue holding everything together is eighth blackbird, an ensemble that has nearly reached rock-star status among contemporary-music enthusiasts (or maybe just in my own mind). Each piece that gets performed features a member of eighth blackbird, who plays together with the younguns. In other words, rather than having private lessons with one of them, or jostling for a spot in a masterclass, you get to play with them – to work with them every day as equals (well…equals?).
But let’s return to the question of the week – “Composer or performer?”
My major in college was music history; I’m currently pursuing a PhD in musicology at the Graduate Center. Although it’s never been my main occupation, performance has somehow managed to lurk in the dark corners of my life. I assumed that when I began grad school, my double life – musicologist by day, pianist by night – would end. But in the months before I began to study at CUNY, I found myself auditioning to study piano with Ursula Oppens, who was about to begin teaching at the GC. The charade would continue a little longer…
As a musicologist who spends most days trying to sort out whether to devote her life to playing piano or writing about music, but knows that however it turns out, contemporary music is going to play a pretty big role, Music10 sounded pretty irresistible: go to Switzerland, play a bunch of contemporary music, and try to find out exactly what is on young composers’ and performers’ minds.
Let the great experiment begin!
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