Smack in the middle of Fall Fest weekend, Brandeis students and their families attended the New Music Brandeis concert series' first Composers' Collective of the year. The series features the compositions of graduate students in the composition and theory classes, while this particular performance featured works by both undergraduate and graduate students. Some students performed their own compositions and others performed the work of other students.

Kyo Shimizu M.A. '14 began the concert with his own composition, "Furumai," on the electric guitar. The piece had a meditative quality. It was soothing, slow and melodic, and Shimizu played each note with care and precision, allowing the notes to vibrate and fade. The piece was a change from what we are used to hearing on the electric guitar, an instrument usually associated with rock 'n roll and jamming sessions. "Little Bird," written and performed on the piano by Jared Redmond (Ph.D. candidate in Music Theory and Composition) was short and sweet. The piece was comprised of short and fast notes in seemingly random rhythms, very reminiscent of a little bird. Redmond is also one of the directors of the New Music Brandeis program this year. 

Next, Nate Shaffer '16 performed three movements of "Mini-suite for Solo Piano," composed by Travis Roy '16, who created the piece for a class. The program noted that each movement "takes on its own unique formal style" and that it "intends to adopt a mechanically constant tempo while moving through a chaotic, varied landscape." I especially enjoyed the second movement of the suite, the "Riddle Song" which maintained a slow, steady rhythm that was playful at the same time, intermixed with faster, higher notes. The movement ended with a loud bang, signifying the "punch line" of the "riddle."

In "Riffs and Echoes," composed by Travis Alford (Ph.D. candidate in Music Theory and Composition), was performed by Alford on the trumpet and Emily Koh (Ph.D. candidate in Music Theory and Composition) on the bass, Alford took a decomposed approach to the composition. The piece was extremely incoherent in style and started and stopped in seemingly random places, leaving me very confused. One pleasant moment was when Alford blew soft puffs of air into his trumpet while Koh bounced her bow on top of the strings, creating a delicately perky effect. At one point in the piece Koh played a cheerful pizzicato part on her bass, but the pleasant effect was interrupted when Alford came in with a slightly annoying trumpet part that grew louder and louder until it was uncomfortable to listen to. The piece was definitely out of the box.

"Madrigal for Mandolin and Oboe," written by David Chernack '17, was beautiful. The piece was performed by Chernack playing the mandolin and Christa Caggiano '17 on the oboe. The program mentioned that "Madrigal for Mandolin and Oboe" is officially the only piece ever composed and performed for this "under appreciated" instrumental combination-quite an achievement for a college first-year. The beautiful and complex blends of sound created an overall feeling of otherworldliness.

The program contained three choral pieces, the first of which, "Rest," had an unnerving quality to it. The piece, composed by Alford, was sung by the New Music Brandeis Chamber Singers (a group of graduate students) and accompanied by Alexander Lane (Ph.D) on the organ. "Rest" featured extremely dissonant tones that created a creepy effect. At times the piece sounded spooky and at other times like a droning religious chant as the singers repeated the phrase "come unto me" over and over again.

All of these composers should be congratulated. It is not easy to play an instrument, let alone write music. These composers experimented with some complex tones and rhythms and in the end they produced well-polished pieces. They are still working things out, and to their credit, there are very few people who can put notes together and make them sound good. I look forward to seeing their compositions mature.

Editor's note: Nate Shaffer '16 is a Justice Contributing Writer for the Arts section.