{"id":7920,"date":"2018-06-06T17:31:26","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T01:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=7920"},"modified":"2018-06-06T17:31:26","modified_gmt":"2018-06-07T01:31:26","slug":"composed-by-one-played-by-many","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/composed-by-one-played-by-many\/","title":{"rendered":"Composed by one, played by many"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zoe Strickland, Editor-in-Chief<\/span><\/p>\n

Many years of music study and a working knowledge of three instruments led up to music composition major Jessica McCutchen\u2019s senior music recital. McCutchen, who plays piano, violin and flute, has spent the last four years honing her composition and music playing abilities. <\/span><\/p>\n

The pieces performed during the recital span McCutchen\u2019s time at Western <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>from \u201cReflections,\u201d the solo piano performance that McCutchen first composed in 2013 and revised in 2014, to \u201cAntumbra,\u201d written in 2018 \u2014 the newest solo piece from McCutchen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Of the eight pieces performed during her June 1 recital, McCutchen\u2019s favorites are \u201cAntumbra\u201d and \u201cThe Marionette.\u201d The latter was performed with McCutchen and Dr. Carlos Velez on flute, and music major Emily Delziel on piano. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Antumbra\u2019 is a piece about transition and seeing where life takes me,\u201d said McCutchen, who also performed the piece at the \u201cElegant Evening of Piano Music\u201d event on May 2. \u201cIt’s a solo piano piece, so it’s me and the piano telling a story. It’s about leaving this place I’ve made a home and leaving people I love to go off and chase my dreams.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018The Marionette\u2019 was written out of frustration due to the lack of technical challenge in pieces I was playing in ensemble classes,\u201d McCutchen said. \u201cInstead of festering over something I had no control over, I went home and wrote. Getting to perform it with my flute\/composition professor, Dr. Velez made it more special.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

While the recital both began and ended with a McCutchen as a solo pianist, that\u2019s far from what was displayed in the duration of the evening. The bulk of the recital consisted of compositions that were also played by numerous students throughout the music program. For some pieces, like \u201cA Life to Remember,\u201d \u201cDawn\u201d and \u201cDerailing Circus,\u201d McCutchen was among those playing. However, pieces like \u201cProcrastination Waltz\u201d and \u201cKnock Knock Go Away,\u201d were solely played by her peers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHearing my compositions being played by others is the strangest feeling,\u201d said McCutchen. \u201cIt’s like someone saying your thoughts, which can be beautiful or it can be heartbreaking. I invest so much time and effort composing a piece. I make sure what I write has a purpose. When I give it to a performer, it’s like I am giving them a part of myself to share with the world. Hearing someone else articulate your thoughts and your emotions is overwhelming and beautiful. It’s sharing who I am through other people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As for what\u2019s next for the graduating musician, she plans to continue her education: \u201c<\/span>I plan on getting my masters and doctorate. I really love school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Photo by: Zo\u00eb Strickland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zoe Strickland, Editor-in-Chief Many years of music study and a working knowledge of three instruments led up to music composition major Jessica McCutchen\u2019s senior music recital. McCutchen, who plays piano, violin and flute, has spent the last four years honing her composition and music playing abilities. The pieces performed during the recital span McCutchen\u2019s time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1030,"featured_media":7909,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}