Later this semester, the culmination of several months of work by several different people to put music to two of 2020鈥檚 biggest headlines will be coming to a streaming device near you.
It鈥檚 a long-distance journey in artistic creation that started back in June, and one whose magnitude and potential have not been lost on the players involved.
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Music for the moment
In the spring, as Director of Bands Donald McKinney planned and programmed for a most unusual fall semester of music making, he knew there were events happening in the world that he and his colleagues could not ignore.
鈥淥ur original discussion centered around creating a piece of solace that would allow our students to deal with the isolation of COVID. After the murder of George Floyd, I felt like there needed to be a larger goal than just COVID,鈥� McKinney recalls.
The only trouble was, the existing repertoire that spoke to this moment in time鈥攐ne shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic and the movement for racial justice鈥攄idn鈥檛 really exist. McKinney saw an opportunity. So did longtime College of Music advisory board member Jan Burton.
鈥淛an contacted me in early spring and wanted to commission a piece of music for the Wind Symphony,鈥� McKinney explains. 鈥淚 told her that our immediate need would be for music that could be performed with a smaller instrumentation. Jan suggested Conor Brown鈥檚 name.听
鈥淚 knew about Conor鈥檚 work as a composition student. He is a wind player and I knew that he was familiar with our ensemble and would create an amazing piece of art.鈥�
鈥淚 am a mission-based donor,鈥� Burton says. 鈥淚 give money when I see a purpose that I relate to. When the pandemic came about, I was worried about musicians and how they would perform with others. But I also wanted to support a composer, so to be able to commission a piece from a Colorado composer was a positive as well.鈥�
Brown, pictured above at left, who received a master鈥檚 degree from the College of Music in 2018 and was part of the college鈥檚 CU at Carnegie concert in 2018, was up for the challenge. But as a White composer, he knew that in order to do this important piece justice, he needed a different perspective.
鈥淔rankly, as a White person, for me to address systemic racism through music without input from anyone that racism actually targets would mean I am just part of the problem rather than the solution,鈥� Brown says. 鈥淲orking with a collaborator who understands racism in a way I simply can鈥檛 felt like the right way to engage with this issue.
鈥淚mportantly, I absolutely love Derrick鈥檚 music: When I first heard his compositions years ago, it was immediately obvious to me that we are musical 鈥榢indred spirits.鈥欌��
Derrick Spiva (above听right)听is an American composer with Ghanaian, Nigerian, British, Irish and Native American ancestry. He often incorporates non-Western music into his compositions. He and Brown met when Spiva curated a concert for the LA Chamber Orchestra and after a successful collaboration there, Brown brought him into the fold.
鈥淲e wanted to make sure everything that was going on got addressed, so I reached out to Derrick to start that discussion,鈥� he says.
鈥淎ny collaboration, through art or otherwise, that conveys the state of affairs in this country could always benefit from including a diverse set of voices,鈥� Spiva says. 鈥淚t is part of the identity of the country. Simply, the United States is not a monolithic country, and it never has been. It鈥檚 always been a pluralistic place and collaborations do a great service to show that.鈥澨�
Reinventing the wheel
From a distance鈥擲piva is in LA and Brown is in the Boulder area鈥攖he duo began work on a piece in multiple movements, each one addressing through music either the pandemic or the racial justice movement. Though both are familiar with collaborative composing, the safer-at-home conditions made for a brand new process with its own difficulties and rewards.
鈥淭he most collaborative part has been coming up with the general programmatic tone to the piece,鈥� Spiva says. 鈥淚t has to convey the human experience, as it relates to this moment, and the fact that this moment has occurred before.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 been more conceptual than writing different parts and putting them together,鈥� Brown adds. 鈥淚鈥檝e personally also been learning more about the history of policing in this country, thanks to some recommendations from Derrick as we鈥檝e started putting our ideas together. I view Derrick as an inspiration and as a mentor and it鈥檚 been so fulfilling to work with him on this project.鈥�
Musically, Spiva says the work itself must strike a balance between hopefulness and division. 鈥淚 want to convey the tension that鈥檚 involved in our community, but I don鈥檛 want to do it in a way that鈥檚 just another source of stress for the listener. There鈥檚 already enough dissonance going on as it is. So it鈥檚 been about balancing the dissonance in the music so that it鈥檚 realistic and hopeful in the same breath.鈥�
Instrumentation, as a matter of course, has been its own challenge for the composers. Brown says the nature of a socially distanced rehearsal and performance has meant a shift in style for both him and Spiva.
鈥淓ach movement will be performed by a small group,鈥� Brown says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had to cut back from initial plans for the instrumentation because cases have been rising, and that鈥檚 put even more pressure on musicians to distance and take other precautionary measures.
鈥淲e鈥檙e both into rhythm, especially multiple rhythms lining up in complex ways, and it鈥檚 hard to do that when performers are spread out or isolated. They can鈥檛 play off of body language or hear as well across the ensemble. So we鈥檝e had to adapt to that as well.鈥�
Healing and action
Brown and Spiva hope that all of those elements鈥攊nstrumentation, rhythm, tonality and themes鈥攃ome together in a heartfelt musical take on the social change occurring around the world. But it is also a call to action.
鈥淭he interesting thing about COVID is that it wiped away all the other distractions in our lives when George Floyd was murdered,鈥� Spiva says. 鈥淵ou couldn鈥檛 go watch a basketball game or go to a movie theater. There was nothing anyone could do but to confront the monster that鈥檚 always been there: that people are being treated differently.听
鈥淩elating it back to music, we have an opportunity to continue the conversation so that the past isn鈥檛 repeated on loop, continually inflicting pain on people. The more we can articulate that through music, the more impactful the piece can be to the players and the audience.鈥�
And at a time of so much disruption and uncertainty, perhaps the piece can provide some solace as well.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important that we bring that to these musicians who aren鈥檛 able to really be musicians right now,鈥� Brown says. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 performed live as a clarinetist since March. I hope this is a way to help this community of musicians come together through music鈥攖o feel like a community again.鈥澨�
Adds McKinney, 鈥淭he collaboration between Conor, Derrick and Jan has been a convergence of energy that demonstrates the incredible power of music, community and the impact of our donors.鈥�
At the time of this writing, 鈥淐ode Switch Mixtape鈥� is intended to premiere during a Wind Symphony streamed performance later this year.
