BY LEWIS INGHAM
I’m one of the few Melburnians who can look at the winter coat in their wardrobe with the immense satisfaction of knowing it won’t be needed for a whole month. For those who know the chill of the winter months in Melbourne, this can only mean one thing: I’m going somewhere warmer.
I’m not simply travelling to Charlotte NC, United States for the warmth, though. Something much more enticing draws me across the Pacific Ocean.
Early in March, I found out I was one of 30 emerging composers selected to participate in a composition program as part of the 2017 Charlotte New Music Festival. This composition program, running alongside the two-week new music festival, consists of daily composition lessons, concerts, speed-writing exercises, and seminars that will aid the professional development of all the composers involved. The festival is a chance for me to meet new people, learn from teachers outside of Australia, and present two of my own compositions through the festival’s concert series.
The Charlotte New Music Festival offered the tantalising prospect of pairing a composition opportunity with travel, and I am certainly taking time to explore the likes of Chicago, New York, and Boston during my stay. I look at the adventure in front of me as a wonderful life experience to be had, as much as a musical experience. Although, writing a piece for the odd combination of flute, oboe, violin, viola, xylophone, drum kit, and guitar has already proven an interesting musical experience – this is the instrumentation for which I was given to compose by the South Carolina-based Out of Bounds Ensemble, which will premiere the composition at the festival.
When I reflect on the start of 2017, it’s amazing to realise how quickly new opportunities can swiftly shape a year, particularly when you’re staring at a pretty blank calendar to begin with, which I was. While I had ambition to make the most of my first year out of uni, I was yet to develop a clear idea of what I wanted to gain from the year – other than getting as many of my compositions performed as possible. Since then, I have certainly developed a clearer idea of where I want opportunities to take me, and have filled every month with ongoing professional activities. However, I’ve also been really lucky to have some wonderful people around me – acquaintances old and new – who have pushed me to explore and seek new opportunities. For me, the Charlotte New Music Festival is a result of this.
Although I have just taken the painfully long flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles, I have really thought about the importance of identifying what you want to get out of the situations in which you find yourself. I feel that no longer having university studies to attend to has given me more of a license to travel than I had before, and has allowed me to seek the composition opportunities I strive for in an international setting. As I have found, it’s often only when you’ve grasped hold of a new chance that you realise what you can get out of it, and the excitement begins to grow. It’s incredibly exciting to be able to travel overseas to see my compositions performed, and I’m sure there is still so much more to be gained and experienced from the Charlotte New Music Festival. But, I’ve got to get over some jet-lag and try a deep-dish pizza in Chicago before I find out.
Lewis’ participation in the 2017 Charlotte New Music Festival is generously supported by the Barbara Bishop Hewitt Scholarship and the State Government of Victoria through a Creative Victoria Music Works Quick Response Grant.
Image supplied.
