Kathryn Blake (Composition '21) Wins Third Prize
Kathryn Blake (Music Composition '21) won third prize in the Media Press Music 2021 Solo Percussion Composition Competition with their piece Just Ordinary. Their work will be published by Media Press Music, it will be reviewed by Percussive Notes, and a video performance will be made by Joseph van Hassel.
Congrats to Kathryn!!
Program note for Just Ordinary (2019) by Kathryn Blake:
In the midst of a stressful period, a listen to the world around me helped create this piece. I based Just Ordinary on the sounds I heard and catalogued on a typical day – doors opening and closing, cars and busses driving by, chatter, insects, wind, and birdsong – and reinvented them into a percussive world for a solo performer. The piece mixes these sounds which were taken from morning to night, and layered them on top of one another, leaving some sections quiet and gentle, while others are lively and full of color. I gave the performer the freedom to select the instruments based on loose descriptions of a desired sound (e.g., wood, resonant and non-resonant metals), thus giving them the freedom to design their personal interpretation of the world around them. This piece provides an opportunity to reflect on the environment in which we live, to notice how we view the world through different lenses, and to appreciate the things in life that we think are Just Ordinary.
Posted: June 25, 2021, 9:36 AM
