♪ [ symphony music ] ♪
[Avery Pun] Music can be more than just
the classical instruments.
(Sound FX, symphonic music)
And if you incorporate these other sounds,
it can make something new entirely.
(Sound effects)
[Narrator] If you think you know what symphonic music
is all about, it's time to change your tune.
- Welcome, everyone.
- Welcome to the Seattle Symphony's Merriman Ross family
Young Composers Workshop.
(♪♪)
The free, five month course
provides ten local teens a chance to fuze together
live instruments played by Seattle Symphony members with what are called
electroacoustic sounds like this crinkling paper.
(Crinkling paper)
That's from a piece by 16 year old Avery Pun called “Paper Petals,”
which calls to mind creating paper flowers and writing with her friends.
- Like my friends and I, we used to write a lot.
That's actually how we met is through writing this story together,
where we all would write a character for different chapters.
- Well, I'm very excited to hear “Paper Petals” by Avery Pun.
♪ [ symphony music ] ♪
- Avery's
also writing a new chapter in her own musical education,
with an incredible opportunity to have her work
after months of practice sessions played by some of the best musicians
on Earth in a world premiere concert at Benaroya Hall.
- I feel like I've learned that
music is a lot more than what I initially thought it was,
and that there's a lot of different types of music
that I haven't explored yet and that I can still get into.
- That sentiment is music to the ears of workshop director Marcin Pączkowski.
- So we'll look at the score. - His job helping these young composers
with varying levels of experience in classical music,
or composing on a computer to literally play off one another.
- I would say this is both the fun part and the challenge.
Getting everyone ready with the skills,
filling in the gaps as we go, which is different for every student.
- For Pączkowski, the workshop is tearing down some misconceptions
between students and professionals about what it means to be a musician.
(♪♪) - We are just peers.
There might be a little bit of a difference of experience,
but we are just talking music with each other.
It just gets rid of all the boundaries. - And there are no boundaries
when it comes to where students of the Young Composer Workshop can end up.
From playing here at Benaroya Hall to finding an audience worldwide.
Seattle Symphony bass player Will Langlie Miletich is a former young composer student,
(♪♪)
and the symphony has performed music
by workshop alum August Beck multiple times at major shows.
- So like, it's very cool to see how the students like
carry on in their musical lives and like also come back and like stay connected
- Community engagement, programs manager Allison Damon says,
with a diverse pool of students attending the workshop over the past three
plus decades,
the symphony is able to connect with new audiences year after year.
- The more different kinds of voices that we feature on our stage,
the more people could potentially feel impacted by the works that are performed.
We need a little bit more of that in the work that we do here.
(♪♪)
- Principal
cellist Efe Baltacigil agrees that the tradition of
symphonic music and the kind of people listening to it are changing.
- Well, I think we are on 21st century.
So what is traditional at this point?
So good luck finding that.
- And as symphonies in Seattle and worldwide face
the challenge of finding new listeners,
Baltacigil sees the workshop as part of the continuing effort
to help classical music adapt to a digital age.
- I think it's important to keep your view open and wide,
to try to accept the changes that might be necessary and be flexible.
I think for any artist that is a good, quality to have.
- Student Aiden Ramirez threw plenty of changes at the Seattle
Symphony's musicians.
(Dog barking)
So he set his pet chihuahua
and parakeet loose in his composition “Leo and Popcorn.”
- So the piece is supposed to be
about my interpretation, about them being home alone.
(♪♪)
- For a young man who's never composed
using electroacoustic sounds before, this experience
has rewritten his approach to music altogether.
- It helped me definitely get out of my shell more and just
experiment with music that I just didn't really know I liked.
(Audience applause) - It turns out audiences are liking it too.
And no matter what's ahead for these composers, this workshop
has struck a chord that's sure to resonate for years to come.
- It's a whole new experience I just didn't really know existed.
♪ [ symphony music ] ♪
♪♪
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