Alex Loran plays a baritone saxophone during the group performance of “Sometimes It’s Nice to Just Feel Like a Noodle: Snap in Half/Boil the Ocean/Fling at a Wall” at the dress rehearsal for CU Boulder’s Soundworks on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
Student musicians at the University of Colorado Boulder performed their own compositions at a SoundWorks concert on Jan. 31 Their pieces, performed either solo or with a small ensemble, are recorded professionally during the concert to be used in applications for music festivals and competitions.
SoundWorks is a monthly concert held primarily for the purpose of debuting original compositions by CU Boulder student composers, but can also feature talented musicians performing non-original pieces.
The concert, performed in Grusin Music Hall, featured original works by Rain Michael, Michiko Theurer, Blake Clawson, Raven Chacon, James Morris, Blair Snyder and Holly McMahon. Also featured was Keenan Powell, performing sections from György Ligeti’s Musica Ricercata for solo piano.
Abby Terrill plays “Two Piano Suite, Op. 18” accompanied by James Morris during the dress rehearsal for CU Boulder’s SoundWorks on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
Powell ended his dress rehearsal slot by perfecting the finale of his piece, placing each of a series of eerie, singular key presses as precisely as possible. He has been practicing his craft ever since the first grade and is majoring in music composition and mathematics at CU Boulder.
“Essentially, the theme of this piece is that it starts off with only a few notes in the first movement, and each successive movement adds one more note that you can use,” Powell said.
One of his professors scouted him to perform at SoundWorks after hearing him play the piece.
Michael, who composed a piece for great bass recorder and piano entitled “Sometimes it’s Nice to Just Feel Like a Noodle: Snap in Half/Boil the Ocean/Fling at a Wall,” ended up arranging the music for a small, low-winds ensemble instead.
“The fact that we are able to have these monthly concerts and I am able to put on pieces that I composed just this year, it’s a lot of fun,” Michael said. “I’m really grateful to my performers for being up to the challenge.”
Rain Michael performs the group piece “Living Space” at the dress rehearsal for CU Boulder’s SoundWorks on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
Theurer’s piece, entitled “Living Space,” features a small ensemble playing instruments like the lute and hand drum in order to create a specific ambiance. Theurer, who graduated with a DMA in violin from CU Boulder and is currently a PhD student in musicology at Stanford, invites the audience to perform along with the students on stage. Her program notes read:
“Listen around you and inside you for any sound that resonates with you. On your next exhalation, hum that sound for the full length of your breath. (Don’t worry if the sound you make is different from the sound you heard.) Repeat as often as it brings you joy.”
Michiko Theurer plays the violin during the group performance of “Living Space” at the dress rehearsal for CU Boulder’s SoundWorks on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
As per Theurer’s vision, an ethereal monotone filled the hall, with each musician adding small flourishes and changing notes as per their intuition. Less a ‘song’ than a feat of pure expression, her goal with this composition was to create a sound that would literally infuse life and character into the space. As an open-instrumentation piece, any number of performers using any sound medium – including vocals – can perform it.
“These were the extremely generous and amazing souls who responded to my invitation,” Theurer said. “It’s just such a joy and privilege to get to play with these wonderful musicians.”
Contact CU Independent Arts and Entertainment Editor Grace Ptak at Grace.Ptak@colorado.edu
Contact CU Independent Photo Editor at Clementine.Miller@colorado.edu
