PUTNEY — Flying Bird, a musical composition by fifth-grader Ella Wilson of The Grammar School in Putney, was recently chosen to be played at the Music Composition Mentoring Program's annual Opus 34 concert.
According to a news release from the school, Wilson's piece was chosen for Music-COMP for at least two reasons: “[The] instrumentation of flute, bassoon, and piano was a unique and descriptive combination,” and “the story was well-constructed and easy to follow, with the flute portraying a sparrow, the bassoon a hawk, and the piano the wind.”
At first, Wilson “introduces a well-crafted melodic motif, played by the flute, to represent the sparrow flying around. The piano echoing the motif and playing with the flute gives you the feeling of the wind enveloping and protecting the lone bird. When the bassoon enters, you can picture the hawk hunting for its dinner. After it flies away, the sparrow starts flying around again and then flies away. In the end, you hear just the wind.”
According to former executive director of Music-COMP Sandi MacLeod, “The live performance experience is such a reward. When music comes from living, breathing musicians, there is an energy and vibrancy that the computer can't imitate.”
Composing a piece and having it selected and played live can be a life-changing experience.
The Opus competition, put on by Music-COMP, includes a website where students in grades 3 through 12 can submit original pieces of music developed with the help of an online mentor.
Selected pieces are then performed live by professional musicians at the annual Opus concert at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier.