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Issue date: 3/31/06 Section: Trinity Life

Media Credit: Nick Buratto Composer Libby Larsen rehearses.

Libby Larsen, the first woman to ever serve as a resident composer with a major orchestra, visited Trinity last week for performances of her music and to present a lecture.

 "Music is my fluent means of communication, and I want to communicate what it feels like to be alive through the language that I write best in," Larsen said.

 Larsen typically writes eight or nine compositions annually, depending on the length and instrumentation of the pieces.

 Larsen actually began her college career studying economics and music. At that point, she thought if she pursued music it would be through performance. Early in college, she decided that composing might be something she would want to pursue. She could put her love of math together with her love of music and compose.

 She said she enjoyed her visit to San Antonio and was excited to have the opportunity to work with performers to convey the message in her music.

 "My favorite part about being here is working with the students and faculty," Larsen said. "I rehearsed with all the groups, and we've had a wonderful time. The best part is making the music."

 The students who performed Larsen's music were thrilled that they could meet and work with such a prolific composer.

 "I thought it was really neat to meet the lady who wrote the piece I had been working on," said Jackie Twedell, sophomore. "It just gives the piece a whole new dynamic."

 Twedell performed with a chamber woodwind ensemble on March 24. They performed "A Child's Garden of Monsters: Dracula's Blues," the story of a boy who interviewed Dracula.

 Nate Beal, sophomore, read the part of Dracula, while First Year Ryann Madden and Sophomore Valerie Cortinas also read parts to capture the conversation Dracula has with the boy.

 Instead of specializing in a specific type of music, Larsen says she specializes in sound.

 "For me the composition always begins with sound, and then I add the instruments that are necessary to produce that sound," Larsen said.

 That particular piece combined traditional instrumental noises with innovative sound-making techniques. Twedell was told to recreate bat sounds using a trumpet mouthpiece and an oboe reed.

Continued...

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