The intricately crafted artistic visions of four Northwestern music composition undergraduate students filled the Regenstein Master Class Room on Thursday night.

Bienen’s music composition department holds a quarterly Student Composers Concert for students to showcase their original pieces. The composers worked with performers prior to the concert to bring their pieces to life.

Elisa Johnson

Bienen and Weinberg sophomore Elisa Johnson kicked off the concert with her piece “Caged Bird,” which set the words of Maya Angelou’s poem “Caged Bird” to music. Bienen senior Risha Hussain sang soprano, accompanied by Johnson on the piano.

Hussain was Johnson’s peer adviser — assigned to all freshmen during orientation to support their transition — and the pair chose Maya Angelou’s poem as the central backdrop for the piece.

“This piece means a lot to both of us, and (Hussain) chose the text for this piece, which is a poem by Maya Angelou,” Johnson said. “I think the text really spoke to both of us.”

Johnson said she hoped the audience picked up on how the music reflects the lyrics. Johnson said she experimented with amps off stage to enhance the effects of lyrics such as a bird “on the distant hill.” Pitch increases corresponded to ideas like “freedom” and “singing,” alluding to the poem’s themes.

Matthew Huang Mailman

Bienen sophomore Matthew Huang Mailman showcased his vocal piece “Blackout.” Performed by tenor and Bienen sophomore Tejas Gururaja and Bienen freshman Crystal Cheng on piano, Mailman said he manipulated a text by Alan Watts inspired by the methodology in blackout poetry — a process of removing parts of existing texts to create a new one with new meaning — to provide the lyrics.

Mailman said the text was also a nod to his middle school band teacher, who signed off emails with one of Watts’ quotes. Mailman started the piece in a class and chose to flesh it out to the full 11-minute form performed at the concert.

In the rehearsal process, Mailman said Gururaja provided feedback on the first draft of the piece, a constructive experience considering Mailman had not previously written for voice. This piece, for Mailman, is a reflection of his style and personality expanded to reach the audience.

“My music is very fluid, in the sense that it’s always moving from one point to the next, to the next, to the next,” Mailman said. “I never let my music rest. It’s not who I am as a person. It’s not who I am as a composer, so I really hope people get this sense of ever-present motion.”

Henry Gloege

Bienen freshman Henry Gloege followed up with “vierundsechzig in 5 movements,” performed by violist and first-year Bienen graduate student Jake Westerbeke.

Gloege said he composed the piece a year ago for solo cello — he is a cellist himself — but then reworked the piece for viola after meeting Westerbeke. Collaborating with a musician to bring the piece to life was a part of the composition process Gloege said he cherished.

“I like to hear their feedback about the pieces, and see what they think and see what they can bring to the table,” Gloege said. “It’s really nice to collaborate with people that I know well.”

Gloege also ended the night with “Fünf und Requiem II,” performed by Bienen sophomore Keitaku Iwata as soprano, along with Bienen sophomore Hannah Zhang and Bienen junior Joshua Lee on piano.

Gloege said he hopes audiences will find the piece challenging with a stark contrast between the first and third movement’s modern, atonal techniques and the calm second movement.

Ovya Diwakaran

Inspired by the joy she feels during her daily routine of morning skincare, Bienen freshman Ovya Diwakaran designed “8:16am: Morning Skincare” for solo clarinet, performed by Bienen freshman Chris Cui.

Diwakaran said her instructor encouraged her to explore a clarinet piece — a challenge to convey her story with only one note — compared to her typical instruments like piano and violin, which can play multiple at once.

Broken down into four movements — “Cleanser,” “Serum,” “Lotion” and “Sunscreen” — Diwakaran said she found inspiration in musical theater’s audience engagement, which classical music sometimes lacks. Diwakaran incorporated her personal skincare presented on a music stand, pushing the respective product corresponding to its movement.

“I’m really breaking into this new storytelling aspect of classical music that I’ve never really played with before,” Diwakaran said. “I’m really enjoying that, and I think that’s probably my favorite part of the process.”

Email: [email protected] 

Related Stories:

— Stringing along: Bienen’s student composers concert showcases students’ musical journeys 

— ‘A once in a lifetime opportunity’: NU Symphony Orchestra and Choirs perform Britten’s War Requiem 

— Chicago Symphony Orchestra College Night brings classical music to students