An exciting premiere...

Somehow we are less than a week out from the CMU Philharmonic Student Composer’s Concert. It’s amazing how quickly time flies.

A little over three years ago, I sat in one of the alcoves outside the College of Fine Arts in complete and utter excitement. I had just walked out of my interview with Nancy Galbraith and Daniel Curtis, and I was completely enamored with the composition program at CMU. The prospect of premiering an orchestral work with such a phenomenal group of players excited me like nothing else, and I simply couldn’t imagine myself at any other graduate program. So, I did what any young woman standing nervously at the precipice of her future would do: I called my mom. I don’t remember the extent of that phone call, but I do remember telling her that I didn’t know what I would do if I didn’t get into this program because it just seemed like the perfect fit.

The next month and a half passed in nervous anticipation as I awaited an acceptance or rejection, and all the while headlines about a new virus began creeping into my news feeds. In fact, I received my offer to Carnegie Mellon barely four hours before receiving the missive from Skidmore College that we would finish the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester remotely. Needless to say, the excitement of my acceptance was brief. The next day, my sister called me in tears because she saw that the school’s Facebook event for my senior recital had been canceled. I hadn’t yet considered the possibility that the program I had meticulously crafted and practiced would never come to fruition. Mourning the memory I never got to make took a very long time, and I still occasionally feel that melancholic sting of nostalgia three years later.

I bring up that anecdote because this concert feels like a true signal that life does go on, and it does indeed get better. Three years ago, March 15th was a day of tearfully embracing friends and frantically packing all of my belongings. This year, March 15th will be a day of gleefully embracing friends and family as we celebrate six world premieres. I didn’t quite let myself get too excited about this premiere given the tumult of my previous capstone performances, but I think it is safe to say that I look forward to seeing many friendly faces in the audience at this exciting live performance!