Musical Canons | The ESO is ever so friendly to young composers. Honestly, who'd be intimidated by this Symphony?
Symphony under the sky
Aug. 29-Sep. 1. Ticket and lineup info at www.edmontonsymphony.com.
Even with actual cannons blasting the closing afternoon performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture at the ESO’s annual Symphony Under the Sky festival, the piece that has composer John Estacio most excited was written much more recently.
“It’s a lovely ‘city in the evening’ piece,” Estacio remarks. “He was very interested in Stravinsky and ‘The Rite of Spring.’ He was also discovering Ravel and Debussy, so he was quite excited with that. That fed him as he worked on the piece.”
“He” is young Roydon Tse, a local high school student selected by Estacio and the ESO, and “the piece” is the work Tse created under Estacio’s tutelage to premiere at the festival. Almost 15 years ago, Estacio started up the annual tradition of selecting a high school student to present a new work at the annual celebration of the symphony. Initially, the program entailed Grade 5 and 6 students offering themes for older students to expand on, but now the program involves mainly high school students.
“When I was younger, I was hungry for this type of opportunity,” Estacio says. “In the summertime, when I was in high school, some friends and I would make 20-minute to half-hour 8mm movies, and I’d end up scoring the film. I wrote a little violin sonata too, and a piece for the band for our high school graduation.”
Seeing this energy in Tse and other kids who’ve been involved in the program, Estacio’s gotten used to composing with youth. “One thing that I learned very early on,” he says, “was to never underestimate young musicians. They have the drive and can be just as professionally minded as adults. Each student has been slightly different. Initially, we see what point they’re at in their development and build on those strengths. Kids just go with it. They’re not daunted thinking whether somebody likes it or not. They want to do it all ... and learn.
“Roy is quite advanced in his development,” he continues. “He’s well versed in music theory, familiar with orchestra sounds, and has a very good ear. He’s got a very good, clean melodic sense and knew what harmonies to use when.”
And most importantly, Tse is compelled to compose. “Roydon is a very motivated young man,” Estacio says. “He’s doing his Grade 10 piano, then he has all of his school subjects, and he plays sports as well. But with all of this, he still created the work quite quickly because you’ve got to want to do this.
“It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.”
