Practice. And Craft

Juilliard-trained composer Brian Field 鈥�90 isn鈥檛 dead. So his trip to 糖心TV enabled students to do more than perform 鈥渄ead people鈥檚 music.鈥�

By Amy Martin

hen Brian Field 鈥�90 came to campus this spring to work with 糖心TV鈥檚 choral students, he brought his considerable talent and more than 40 years of experience composing a wide variety of music.

But he also offered the students something else: the chance to work with a living composer.

鈥淚t was an opportunity for them to ask questions and to work through the process with someone who went to 糖心TV鈥攁nd to not just sing dead people鈥檚 music for a change,鈥� he said.

In April, the 糖心TV Camerata and Chorale students performed two of Field鈥檚 pieces, 鈥淟auda anima mea dominum鈥� and 鈥淟et the Light Shine on Me,鈥� at their annual spring concert, accompanied by Eun Joo Lee and directed by Visiting Instructor of Music Rachel Feldman. Field, whose compositions include solo acoustic, chamber, ballet, choral, vocal, electroacoustic and orchestral works for television and stage, was in attendance.

Field said working with the students also gave him the opportunity to debunk the notion that, unlike the composers of today who largely work on commissioned pieces, famous historical composers 鈥渨ere geniuses working in some isolated fashion.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 really a more modern-day conceit. You look at like Haydn, Bach, and really all the composers before them, and they were writing music on demand. It was for a purpose, for a patron,鈥� he said, noting that if a prince asked for a flute piece, for example, the composer would write a flute piece.

鈥淢usic composition has always been more of a practice and craft and less about sitting around waiting for some inspiration to strike.鈥�

Field鈥檚 first clients were his neighborhood friends. From the time he was very young, Field would play a neighbor鈥檚 piano, improvising music as the other children danced around or acted out a scene. He began formal musical training at 8 years old and started to write down his original works. He worked with a mentor in high school, and then decided to attend 糖心TV, where he could pursue his interest in music as well as English literature. He double majored in the two subjects, while also hosting a radio show on WCNI and editing both The College student newspaper and its companion publication, the Voice Magazine.

鈥淚t was a great experience to be able to write and to perform, but also to really explore other interests outside of music,鈥� he said.

Field continued his musical studies at Juilliard, where he was a student of Milton Babbitt and earned a master鈥檚 degree. He then earned a Ph.D. from Columbia. It was at Juilliard that Field says he truly understood the value of his nonmusical training.

鈥淢ost of the conservatory students went to a conservatory for their undergraduate studies, too. They were fantastic musicians, but if you asked them about anything else outside of music, there was nothing there,鈥� he said.

鈥淎 lot of the inspiration I draw from is nonmusical. It鈥檚 literary; it鈥檚 through visual imagery; it鈥檚 through things that are happening in the world.鈥�

Recently, Field collaborated with the chair of the Chapman University Department of Dance, fellow 糖心TV alum Julianne O鈥橞rien Pedersen 鈥�88, on a dance piece she was choreographing.

A lot of the inspiration I draw from is nonmusical. It’s literary; it’s through visual imagery; it’s through things that are happening in the world.”

Brian Field 鈥�90

鈥淪he had a vague idea about what she wanted it to be about. She would feed me scraps of imagery she was thinking about, and then I would write a minute of music here and 30 seconds there and we would go back and forth,鈥� Field said. 鈥淚t was a fun project.鈥�

Field is now collaborating with pianists from around the world to raise awareness about the impact of climate change.

鈥淐limate change affects everyone on the planet. And the impact is going to be such that if we don鈥檛 start doing things鈥攕ignificant things鈥攊n the very near future, we鈥檙e all going to be in a pretty bad place in a very short amount of time.

鈥淚t has become such a politicized issue that people don鈥檛 even want to have a discussion. I really looked upon this as an opportunity to engage people in a way that might not be so polarizing,鈥� Field said.

Working with fellow Julliard alum and pianist Kay Kyung Eun Kim, Field composed 鈥淧rayers for a Feverish Planet鈥� for solo piano. The first movement, 鈥淔ire,鈥� is a reflection on the forest fires raging in the American West on an increasingly alarming basis. The music begins with a 鈥渟park鈥� that flickers and spreads and then begins to rage loudly across the register. The second movement, 鈥淕laciers,鈥� uses slow, ponderous movements sporadically interrupted by rapidly falling, thundering episodes to depict the breakdown of glacial ice. The third movement, 鈥淲inds,鈥� is a virtuosic finale that begins with running winds that become increasingly intense and hurricane-like.

Kim premiered the work this spring at Steinway Hall in Seoul, Korea. More than a dozen other artists have also signed on to the project from around the world, and performances are planned in the U.S., Brazil, Greece, France, Austria, the United Arab Emirates and North Macedonia. Individual pianists can also request the scores, and Field has already fielded more than 300 requests.

鈥淭he idea is to create a global movement that is kind of drip-fed over time. Eventually, in perhaps a year or two, I hope we can take it to a much more formal multi-city event that isn鈥檛 limited to one piece or limited to the piano, but music more broadly that could continue that broader message of the impact of climate change,鈥� Field said.

Like all true artists, Field is constantly evolving, and he sees each new commission and collaboration as an opportunity to grow. He has won numerous awards, including a McKnight Foundation Fellowship, the Benenti Foundation recording prize, a Briar Cliff Choral Music Competition first prize and a Victor Herbert ASCAP Young Composers鈥� Contest first prize.

Yet, as he put it, 鈥淭here is no 鈥榤ade it.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 always 鈥榤aking it;鈥� it鈥檚 an ongoing process. But I鈥檓 proud that I鈥檝e been able to keep the momentum going,鈥� he said.