| #MusicAccomplished
Student of the Month
Our April “Student of the Month” is…
Quincy M!
We are so lucky to have Quincy and his family with us at the SJAA.
Congratulations to our very own, Quincy M! 1st Prize in Fine Arts Composition for the 2022 University of Missouri’s “Creating Original Music Project (COMP)”!
From Quincy on his Composition…
“My piece is titled, “The March of the Cornstalks and the Soybean King of Westphalia,” and I’ll be the first to admit it is a bit of a mouthful. Many might hope to find the deeper meaning behind this piece, but I really wanted to focus on the visual element of the composition. I tried to imagine myself somewhere, and write down my consciousness onto the staff paper.
The first movement, titled, “The March of the Cornstalks,” is very militant-sounding. If you’ve ever walked into a cornfield and become lost, you can imagine a cornstalk army. Each cornstalk towers over you ominously and you run in each direction, but it all seems the same. You are being pursued.
The second movement is melancholy, titled, “In the Court of the Soybean King.” Continuing on an agricultural journey, perhaps in my thinking this is connected to “In the Hall of the Mountain King” and “In the Court of the Crimson King.” I visualize tiptoeing through a majestic castle to steal a crown from the “Soybean King.” Throughout, there are interesting harmonies and repeated patterns in the bass, contrasting with changing intervals.
The last movement is titled, “Westphalia.” Westphalia is a region in Germany, and although I know very little about this place, seeing images of the spectacular rolling green hills is where I got the idea for this closing movement. Using sweeping arpeggios and Bach-esque runs, it offers the listener a chance to reflect on the journey of the music and the movements, envisioning a bright future ahead.”
Quincy is a Junior at East Buchanan High School. He has been involved with music for his entire life, an upbringing by his musical parents that has cemented his passion and appreciation for everything music. He is a multi-instrumentalist, first learning the piano at a young age and eventually branching out onto the drums, bass guitar, guitar, and now the upright bass. Quincy first started composing in early elementary school with the use of many simple compositional programs such as Garageband. Ever since then, he has had a love for producing and an innate want to understand how instruments interact and build on one another through the use of Digital Audio Workstations. He has plenty of experience being a live musician, playing with many of his classmates from band and community members, forging long-lasting relationships that continue to fuel his passions to this day. Quincy hopes to expand his musical horizons and songwriting abilities going forward, focusing on appreciating all different genres of music as well as being the most versatile and well-rounded musician he can possibly be. He plans to attend college in the future, majoring in either music composition or music technology.
Very proud of you Quincy! Can’t wait to see and hear what you do next.
Quincy has studied theory and composition with Dr. Nawrot and String Bass with Mr. Holmes (and attended our recent “Songwriting Festival” where he was a great help to the younger writers.)
We could go on and on…
We’ll celebrate Quincy with an Amazon gift card!
Thank you, Quincy for referring your friends and family to the Academy.
Congratulations!!!
To be considered for Student of the Month, be sure to talk to your teacher about all your musical and extracurricular activities, share pictures and refer your fellow musicians to the academy. |
SJAA Piano students performed in the 40th Annual Young Monster Concert at Missouri Western last month. It was all hands on stage (and as many pianos as would fit) for a great day of piano ensemble playing. A rare opportunity that only happens once a year. Congrats to the students and studios of Darren and Jolie!
