Thursday, September 9, 2010
What do you want to do with your composition degree?
Hey guys, just curious to see what you guys want to do when you get out of school with a degree in composition. As for me, I think it'd be awesome to write movie scores seeing that I've always been infatuated with John Williams scores(Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Schindler's List...)
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My interest has been bouncing back and forth between new music for video games, films, television, or the good old concert hall. Given the general slowness (or "thoroughness") of my composing speed, however, I'm not sure how well I would fare under the rapid-deadline pressure of the film industry or even the video game industry. But right now I'm leaning toward video games.
ReplyDeleteWhichever I end up in, I believe I would enjoy a role in a smaller or independent studio, particularly in video gaming. I would very much like to contribute to the entire creation process - concept, writing, and so forth - in addition to composing the score. But any collaboration would be quite fulfilling!
(As an aside, I am now occasionally wondering what a "fantasy opera" would entail...)
My main interest in composing has been composing for film. This is because I am often inspired to elaborate musically on other forms of art. For example, I once composed an orchestral piece to accompany a poem that I wrote.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm interested in working with theater and arranging music because I have had some experience in doing so. This summer I participated in the making of the music for an original play entitled Fuselage: The Musical (http://www.fuselagethemusical.com/), and I enjoyed being put in a new setting where I was able to create new music just by listening to what was going on around me (classically trained string players don't tend to do that very much).
My ambitions are also torn, but between becoming a college professor, and working professionally as a composer. However, I realize the unstable life a freelancer has, and it is not my top priority. I really enjoy teaching (and not just music either) and I anticipate getting a doctorate after my Master's degree here. I have written for film before, and although I have always enjoyed it, I just don't want to be in the industry.
ReplyDeleteAn industry I DO want to be in is that of young grade-school band music. I've wanted to write for wind bands since before I started composing, and I relish the challenge of composing within such limited confinements that can be present in music for young people, because it has to be accessible, interesting/captivating while feasible to play, and ideally would teach musical concepts, so it would be ideal to program as a director.
Great discussion. There are a lot a paths to find your career... I started out wanting to do film, then "just" be a composer, and then found that I loved teaching when I was in graduate school. It's a fun and rewarding process to undergo, and it's very exciting for me to be part of that with you all.
ReplyDeleteThe field is much less rigid that it used to-- in the past, you had to sort of pick a camp, as it were. But now, composers do all sorts of things to piece their career together, which is really great. I mean, John Corigliano has both a Pulitzer Prize and an Oscar, right?