William Shakespeare once wrote, "If music be the food of love, play on."
Few people have the skills to truly combine the ingredients of that fine
food -- they are the ones that compose the music we love to hear again and
again. Our food is served in many varieties, from jazz and orchestral to rock
and chamber.
Daniel Godfrey's interest in composing started at the age of eight. "I
really didn't know enough about it to think about it," he recalls. "I guess
it was like the migratory bird that has a deep instinct to migrate. It's something
that just goes to the bottom of my soul -- it's connected. There has never
been any question that I would live out my life as a composer."
Godfrey composes orchestral and chamber music and is a professor of music
and director at the school of music at Syracuse University. He describes his
music as "personally designed, with a very accessible form of tonality." His
compositions have been performed by leading orchestras and chamber ensembles
throughout the U.S.
Tony Randall uses his recording studios as a base to compose for film and
television. His performing experience in symphonic, jazz and rock groups has
given him special insight and understanding of various genres. Randall's award-winning
music has been broadcast in over 40 countries.
"I chose composing because it's both a challenge and a creative outlet,"
says Randall. "Each film brings its own unique set of challenges. I'm a project-oriented
person and this type of work fits my personal work traits. I'm a workaholic."
David Gompper started to play piano at age six. "I always thought I'd be
a concert pianist until I was about 17," he says. "That's when I got tired
of playing other people's music, much of which is dreadful. So I started playing
my own pieces, much of which sounded like Rachmaninoff, and works for other
ensembles in high school and college."
Gompper is an associate professor of theory-composition at the Center for
New Music at the University of Iowa. He's won several awards
for his compositions and performed and lectured in Greece, Nigeria and South
Korea.
"Find a composition that you love, commit it to memory, and when you go
to compose, don't avoid the obvious," is one of Gompper's favorite quotes.
It's from Nadia Boulanger, a teacher of many composers of this century. Vaughan
Williams, the English composer, is Gompper's idol.
"Listen to as much music as you possibly can," suggests Lori Dobbins, composer
and teacher at Lafayette College. "Study scores and work on developing musician
skills."
John Albani recently moved to Nashville, Tennessee. He's acting as a songwriter,
freelance guitarist, independent producer and arranger.
Albani started recording with three albums for MCA's band Wrabit. Then
he joined female vocalist Lee Aaron to help with songwriting and arranging.
Later, he became her guitarist and assisted with writing and recording. Albani
co-produced three of Aaron's albums including Bodyrock, Some Girls Do and
Emotional Rain.
Composing has changed greatly during his time, says Kenneth Schaphorst,
a composer and arranger who now serves as director of jazz studies at Lawrence
University in Wisconsin. "Stylistically, the profession has become much more
eclectic and diverse," he observes. "In some ways it's much more confusing
for young composers. They tend to be offered conflicting advice."
Schaphorst's interest in musical composition started at age 16 when he
heard the Philadelphia Orchestra play Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. "I
enjoy the process of developing musical ideas. I think I do it fairly well.
Music has always had a profound physical effect on me. It's like a drug. I'm
addicted."
Schaphorst's 10-piece ensemble released When the Moon Jumps in 1994, and
earned four stars in Down Beat magazine. The tune also was hailed by Jazz
Times as "one of the most excitingly provocative large ensemble ventures in
years." He's a founding member of the Jazz Composers Alliance, a nonprofit
corporation dedicated to the promotion of new jazz.
Awards are no stranger to Dana Wilson. He has received the Sudler International
Composition Prize and the American Bandmasters Association-Ostwald Composition
Prize.
The Sudler was presented in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., and
Wilson's winning four-movement composition Piece of Mind was performed.
"What made it meaningful was that it provided a certain recognition that
was helpful in two ways," says Wilson.
"First, it caused others to look at my work in a new light or in some cases
for the first time, and so opened the way to new opportunities. Second, it
enhanced my own self-concept as a composer. Writing music is solitary work.
There are very few guideposts in the world as to how to proceed and whether
one is on the right track. An award can help with self-confidence."
Wilson is also a jazz pianist, clinician and conductor who has many commissioned
works. "What really is most memorable is the day-to-day effort to become a
better composer and to write a good piece," Wilson adds. "I don't really want
to make too big a thing out of the importance of an award, particularly living
in a television culture that prefers the glitz and not the hard work behind
it."