Nevada County Composers Cooperative’s Young Composers Project

The Young Composers Project class of 2023-2024 will present their final concert, Inspired Compositions, on Thursday, June 13, 7 pm, at the Trabucco Ranch in Nevada City. 

This semester, students focused on music and composition, their works reflect their learning and understanding from partnering with the organizations: Color Me Human, Creating Communities Beyond Bias, and Community Beyond Violence. There were presentations and discussions with representatives from all three organizations, and students learned about the personal backgrounds of the speakers and what has led them to do the work they do. They discussed many topics, including systemic racism, unconscious bias, bullying, microaggressions, prejudice, the cycle of abuse, and more. The students also enjoyed a field trip, to Oak Park neighborhood in Sacramento to Fixins, a soul food restaurant that celebrates the history and traditions of African American culture in an inclusive environment, to have lunch and visit a nearby bookstore. 

In writing their compositions, students could choose from a variety of instruments including violin, viola, cello, bass, piano, clarinet, and drums. Professional musicians will be performing, and the students will have an opportunity to rehearse with them, hearing their music brought to life for the first time. It’s an exciting and enriching experience for them, one they look forward to all semester as they work on their compositions.

Ari, 16, wrote a jazz trio for piano bass and drums titled “Cultural Diversity”. His composition includes a series of different jazz styles, all different, but connected. He is going to play drums during the performance.

The idea of better communication inspired Asher, 14. His piece is a duet titled “Communication”. It is written as a dialog between piano and violin.

Henry, 14, “Realizing Unconscious Bias” and Malachi, 16, “Becoming Aware of Unconscious Bias”, were both drawn to the same idea. When you consider it, we all seem to harbor some sort of unconscious bias. Henry’s composition is a duet for cello and piano, while Malachi’s has written a trio for violin, cello, and piano.

Jaxon, 16, has titled his piece “Alone in a Crowd”. It is written for viola, cello, and piano and consists of three movements.

Thuy Vy, 20, has written a quartet for clarinet, violin, cello and piano, and called it “The Things We See, and The Lies We Hear”. 

Baraka, 17, has written a string quartet (2 violins, viola and cello) titled “The Cycle of Abuse”. His quartet is in four movements each reflecting the cyclic periods of Calm, Tension, Abusive and Reconciliation that characterize violent interpersonal relationships.

The audience will be challenged, moved, and astonished by the maturity and talent of these teenage composers. All are invited to attend this concert of new music, presented in a unique venue reached by a beautiful drive in the country.