Hearing the Future 2025
Premieres by Young Composers Project Students
Sunday, May 4 at 1:30 PM (PART 1)
Portland State University, Lincoln Hall Room 75
Fear No Music's Young Composers Project (YCP) provides groundbreaking composition training and mentorship for youth interested in composing as a professional career or life passion. Students grades 5 - 12 train with the region's top professional musicians and composers, developing their new works through a series of workshops and public concerts.
PROGRAM
Ada Friberg – The Oregon Coast
Ricky Lee – Drained
Haruka Sakiyama – After the Rain
Addison Kearbey – Ascent
Jacobi Esparza – Waltz? No. 1 in B minor
Julian Schild – Growth in A Minor
Juniper Hanson – Tempest
A’shariá René Pendergrass – Event Horizon
Vivian Taylor – Jewel Mandala
Lillian Karns – Laid to Rest
Raiden Ray – Tennis de Tavalo
Elishiya Crain-Keddie – Electoral Cycle
(I. Electoral Cycle II. Swing States
III. Election Night)
Isaac Alexander Pendergrass III – The Rising Sword
Alex Tran – a lot of things happen in april
Skye Neal – Elegy for Lost Time
Beckett Olson – The Faerie’s Lament
Elaina Stuppler – 60 Percent
Young Composers Project Musicians:
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John C. Savage (flute) has been compared to Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Herbie Mann, Noah Howard, Ian Anderson, and Colin Stetson. Savage has performed and recorded with, among others, Esperanza Spalding (for Bienestar Oregon), Cartridge (The Black Heron and the Spoonbill), the Andrew Hill Big Band (A Beautiful Day), Billy Fox and Mark Dresser (The Uncle Wiggly Suite) and releases on PJCE Records (Ekta, Demolition Duo, From Maxville to Vanport, Senses Sharpened). Savage frequently performs with poet Claudia Saleeby Savage as Thick In The Throat Honey, the free jazz trio Krüd, and Lie Very Still, which performs Savage’s compositions influenced by classical composition, improvisation, metal, and a dystopian future. He also performs with The Bundy Band, a twelve-piece New Orleans Jazz influenced group with a distinctly Pacific Northwest flavor. His chamber music group, Re:Soundings Trio, collaborated with NEA Jazz Master Roscoe Mitchell and may be heard on his release, Distant Radio Transmission (Wide Hive Records, 2020). Savage holds a Ph.D. from New York University with emphases in flute performance, improvisation, and music theory. He teaches both at Reed College and Mount Hood Community College. www.johncsavage.com
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Performing in many genres, Kirt Peterson has been a freelance woodwind musician in Portland for almost 35 years, starting out performing in large and small jazz ensembles, Latin jazz ensembles and musical theater orchestras. Kirt performs regularly with the Oregon Symphony, and in 2016 and 2018, he was a featured soloist with the orchestra. Other local ensembles Kirt has performed with include Fear No Music, Third Angle New Music, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Pink Martini and the Young Composer’s Project. When not busy performing or working in his career in maritime logistics, Kirt lives in Beaverton with his wife and two cats, helping tend to their 250 bush rose garden.
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Cellist Heather Blackburn has been lauded for her “burnished tone” (The Oregonian) and for “her gorgeous tone and playing unerringly in tune” (Seattle Post Intelligencer). Heather was appointed to 4 one-year positions with the Oregon Symphony and has performed as guest principal cello for Portland Opera, Symphony Tacoma and Tulsa Symphony. She has given Oregon premieres of works by Joan Tower and Esa -Pekka Salonen, has been a featured soloist with Portland Symphonic Choir, and has performed and recorded with Pink Martini, Portland Cello Project, soul singer Ron Artis and indie band Other Lives. Heather currently teaches cello and chamber music at George Fox University and University of Portland. Heather was invited to perform a solo recital featuring music by Amy Beach as part of the “Women in Music” series at Chadron State College, NE in March. Upcoming concerts include a livestream with cellist Diane Chaplin of works by Giovanni Sollima, a recital in her home state of New York and a solo performance with the University of Portland Orchestra.
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Dr. Stephen Lewis is a composer, pianist, and conductor living in Portland, Oregon, whose music inhabits the terrain between sound as physical sensation and sound as signifier of culture. Hailed as “delectable,” with a “constantly shifting sonic world [that] proved fascinating and effective,” Stephen’s chamber opera, Noon at Dusk, was premiered at UC San Diego in 2016. He has been commissioned by or written works for the Delgani String Quartet, Cascadia Composers, the Wellesley Composers Conference, red fish blue fish, UC San Diego's Palimpsest ensemble, the Diagenesis Duo, Gnarwhallaby, Trio Kobayashi, Aurora Borealis, and a number of individuals. Stephen has performed in solo and ensemble concerts at Miller Theater in New York, Severance Hall in Cleveland, the Walt Disney and Zipper Halls in Los Angeles, and at smaller venues throughout the United States. Stephen maintains a private studio of piano, composition, and music theory students. He completed the PhD in Composition at UC-San Diego in 2015, where he studied with Rand Steiger. Subsequently, he completed the DMA in Contemporary Piano Performance in 2017, where he studied with Aleck Karis. Stephen is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he majored in piano and composition.
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Dr. Brian Gardiner is a versatile percussionist in Portland, Oregon. He holds section percussion positions with the Portland Opera and Oregon Coast Music Festival Orchestra, is principal percussionist with the Portland Choir and Orchestra, and performs regularly with the Oregon Symphony. He has appeared on stage with such notable acts as The Who, Andrea Bocelli, Nas, David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets), Doug Martsch (Built to Spill), Alex Maas (The Black Angels), Johnny Mathis, The Indigo Girls, and Béla Flek.
As a supporter of new music, Brian co-founded the Portland Percussion Group (PPG) in 2011, which has since become a mainstay in the contemporary music space in Portland. To date, the group has worked with composers to create over 60 new works for percussion quartet and continues to look for ways to develop new sounds, explore new spaces, and engage new audiences. The Portland Percussion Group also extends into educational outreach through involvement with young percussionists in our region and the creation of new educational opportunities for developing percussionists. The PPG frequently presents clinics and workshops at universities throughout the Northwest and United States on the topic of chamber percussion repertoire and performance as well as maintaining an ongoing involvement with the Portland Summer Percussion Academy.
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For his work with young composers, pianist and conductor Jeff Payne was awarded the 2022 Musical Hero Award by the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. He founded Fear No Music with percussionist Joel Bluestone in 1992, and has performed hundreds of concerts with the group across the United States. During his tenure as Artistic Director for the group he was responsible for presentation of twenty World Premiere or American Premiere performances of works by Pacific Northwest composers. In 1997 he founded the Young Composers Workshop, and continues as its Director, overseeing the development of aspiring young creative minds around the region. The 25tth anniversary of the Young Composers Project was featured in articles in the Oregonian and Oregon Arts Watch.
Payne’s complete performance of Messiaen’s “Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jesus” was named one of the Ten Best Concerts of the year by the Oregonian. Heralded by the Boston Globe as “a pianist of chameleon abilities,” Payne has performed on WGBH National Public Radio in Boston, KING radio in Seattle, All-Classical and KOPB radio in Portland, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Norton Gallery in Palm Beach, at the Seattle Spring Festival, at Eugene's Music Today Festival, the Ernest Bloch Festival, and the Oregon Bach Festival. He has performed as soloist with the Vancouver Symphony, and the Yaquina Chamber Symphony. Payne holds a law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School and is a Senior Assistant Attorney General with the Oregon Department of Justice.
Biographies & Program Notes
Ada Friberg
The Oregon Coast
BIOGRAPHY
Ada Friberg is an 8th grader at Scappoose Middle School and this is her first year with YCP. Besides her passion for piano and composing, Ada plays the trumpet for her school band and loves arranging and playing music with her sister and friends at local fiddle jams and cafes. To date, she has composed about 50 piano compositions, receiving numerous honorable mentions in OMTA and MTNA student composition contests and won the OMEA middle school state composition contest two years in a row. She is also an annual participant in the piano OMTA Syllabus and NFMC Festivals. In her spare time, she loves to ride horses, volunteer at a local barn and works for a few equine Sauvie Island neighbors. This will be her 4th year with 4H, showing chickens and raising meat turkeys at the Columbia County Fair. Ada would like to thank her two teachers - Tanya Stojanovich (her amazing piano teacher of 9 years) and Ronnie LaGrone (her wonderful school band director), and her family – Zuzana, Ken and Abby, for always supporting and inspiring her.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
My piece is called “The Oregon Coast”. My inspiration for this piece comes from my numerous Oregon coast trips, admiring how the water smashing on the beach makes such a satisfying noise, which I wanted to implement in my music. My piece features waves gently crashing onto the shore, with dramatic arpeggios and beautiful melodies featured throughout the piece. At the end of the piece, seagulls call out to the ocean and the piece ends in a loud crash with the waves colliding together onto the coast.
Ricky Lee
Drained
BIOGRAPHY
Ricky Lee is in the fifth grade at Oak Creek Elementary School, and this is his second year in the Young Composers Project. In addition to composing, Ricky plays basketball and water polo. He was the 2023 winner in the Tualatin Valley Composition Celebration with the Oregon Music Teachers Association. His parents are Huaya Lee and Yuxin Li, and he studies with Gary Noland.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
My Piece is called “DRAINED” for chamber ensemble. It is written in A-B-A-C-D form, and each part is in a minor key. Section A (the exposition) is dark, and section B creates rising action. The return of Section A is the climax and full of fun and beats. Section C is a falling/rising action, which is horrible and tense. Section D is hot and loyal (like racing and last minute) and then it ends with a little pretty tense and racing sound.
Haruka Sakiyama
After the Rain
BIOGRAPHY
Haruka Sakiyama, 18, is a Senior at West Linn High School. She has enjoyed composing from a young age, and was the winner of the 2020 and 2021 OMEA State Composition Contest and the 2022 National Federation of Music Clubs Junior Composers Competition. Haruka is in her third year as a member of the Young Composers Project and her first work for full symphony was premiered by the Oregon Symphony in 2018, with many of her other works being performed by groups of the Portland Youth Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. In addition to composition, she has been playing the French horn for 6 years, and the violin for 14 years. Haruka has been a part of the Portland Youth Philharmonic for 9 years playing both French horn and violin, currently playing first horn for both the Conservatory Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra. In the fall, she plans to pursue physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign while continuing music.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
“After the Rain” is a piece that depicts the scene outside after it rains. The opening starts off with a melody to depict the grey, yet hopeful aftermath of a rainstorm as the sky starts to clear. As a few remaining raindrops mimicked by the pizzicato in the cellos start, the piece slows down and transitions into a minor, augmented version of the melody to reflect the skies that once again, start to grey. But just as the cello tremolos depict the sound of a rumbling sky, the sky begins to clear up again. The piece closes with the a joyful melody that depicts a sunny sky and the fresh feeling of the air after it rains.
Addison Kearbey
Ascent
BIOGRAPHY
Addison Kearbey is a seventh grader at Valley Catholic Middle School. Her parents, Malinda and Brandon, love traveling and adventure, and their quest for adventure led to the experience that inspired this piece. She has an older sister, Ella, who plays the cello and they enjoy playing music together. In addition to composing, Addison plays violin and viola and is part of her school orchestra and the Portland Youth String Ensemble (part of PYP). She also plays on a competitive soccer team. Her composition and string teacher is Ruth Sadilek.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
My piece is called “Ascent” and it is inspired by climbing South Sister with my family, which was very challenging. It was first commissioned by my conductor (of the Portland Youth String Ensemble), and it was premiered in March. The version that will be performed today was adapted from the original orchestra version. Ascent is divided into three movements. The first is adventurous and anticipating, looking forward to the journey ahead and excited by the challenge. The second is slower and represents feeling tired and wanting to give up, but pushing on anyway. The third and final movement is a celebration, and more dance-like.
Jacobi Esparza
Waltz? No. 1 in B minor
BIOGRAPHY
Jacobi Esparza is a junior at Tualatin High School and this is his second year writing for YCP. He’s been writing music for 4 years and has written for his high school wind ensemble as well as the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. In addition to being a percussionist in his school’s band, he is also in theater and enjoys portraying many different characters onstage. He works with Nick Emerson in composition and aspires to major in music composition in college. Besides composing, he enjoys playing video games, writing stories, and golfing. Jacobi’s parents are Genaro and Errin Esparza.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
Waltz? no. 1 in B Minor isn’t the first thing that would come to mind when you think “waltz”. It’s written in 5 distinct parts: a more modern, yet audibly simple waltz with a moving chord progression, an expressive cello solo, a more classical, Shostakovich-inspired waltz, a freely performed piano solo, and to conclude, a jazz swing ballad with a lyrical duet between clarinet and flute.
Julian Schild
Growth in A Minor
BIOGRAPHY
Julian Schild, a 10th grade student at Northwest Academy, participated in the Young Composers Project for their first year during the 2024-2025 season. Julian has played violin and viola for eight years, and has recently began composing. They are a current member of the Schnitzer Cares student grant-making program at Northwest academy, and will be attending the Circular Innovation program at Lewis and Clark college this summer. They have participated in school orchestras and bands for years, and in ninth grade Julian played violin for Metropolitan Youth Symphony. Julian lives with his parents Glory and Isaac Schild, and has been taking violin and viola lessons with Amanda Lawrence since fourth grade.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
My piece, “Growth in A Minor” is a classical piece with blues and Rhythm and Blues influences. The piece illustrates the lifecycle of a human being from birth through their elder years as their personality and individuality emerge.
Juniper Hanson
Tempest
BIOGRAPHY
Juniper Hanson has been composing for three years and is excited to join the Young Composers Project this year. Juniper is a sophomore at the Arts and Communication Magnet Academy (ACMA) in Beaverton Oregon. In addition to music composition, she plays the flute and the piano. She is also interested in other creative and artistic outlets, pursuing a fine arts pathway at her school, as well as having an interest in writing. Juniper was inspired and encouraged to join the young composers project by her music teacher, Corrie Cook. Juniper’s parents are Dan and Patti Hanson.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
My piece is called Tempest, and it is based on the element of thunder. The beginning arpeggio gives off a mysterious feel, building tension, and the main motif is made to sound grand like thunder. Triplets are used towards the ends of sections to complicate the rhythm like the bends in lightning.
A’shariá René Pendergrass
Event Horizon
BIOGRAPHY
A’shariá René Pendergrass, violinist and composer, is in her 4th year in the Young Composers Project and studies composition under Andrew Todd. In 2023 she was chosen to create a piece, Evenings End, in the YCP-MYS project for the Camerata String Orchestra. She also presented this same piece in a masterclass to composer David Ludwig. A’shariá also composed a piece for Music for an Imaginary Cartoon, with five other composers for the Sinfonietta MYS Orchestra in 2023, which was performed by the Oregon Symphony in 2024. A’shariá is a junior at St. Mary’s Academy where she is a letterman in varsity soccer and track, and is the recipient of the Soccer Offensive Player of the Year award. A’shariá has earned her first and second Violin Solo Event Gold Cup and her 1st Violin Concertino Event Gold Cup. A’shariá is a wing and striker on the 2008 GA girls team for the Westside Metros Soccer Club. She was invited to play with the Parish Soccer Club, a regional select team, at Surf Cup Best of the Best, a year up from her age group. She is also a rated chess player, and for the past six years, has enjoyed learning Latin, both in her free time and in college level classes.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
Once the event horizon of a black hole is crossed there is no turning back. My piece, “Event Horizon,” represents the continual loss of who we used to be. As we go forward, we can never go back - each moment is an event horizon. This piece uses every instrument, except the saxophone, and it has an A-B-C structure.
Vivian Taylor
Jewel Mandala
BIOGRAPHY
Vivian Taylor is in eighth grade at Alliance Charter Academy in Oregon City for music, art and drama classes, and she also homeschools. She is the 6th child of 7 in a blended family. Her parents, Jason and Dia, share their passion for music and theater with Vivian. They are building an event venue to hold everything from concerts to weddings and hope to work with young musicians to have a place to showcase their talents. Vivian is grateful to Jeff Payne and YCP for the opportunity to grow her skills and work with live musicians as she intends to perform as much as possible and grow her abilities as a musician/actress/composer. Vivian is in her first year as a soprano with the Pacific Youth Choir and is looking forward to singing Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Portland Symphony in June and Carmina Burana with the Oregon Bach Festival in July. Vivian is a purple belt in Ki-Aikido and enjoys teaching the younger kids at the West Linn Dojo. Vivian would like to thank her music teachers at ACA, Mr. Edson and Mrs. Trobaugh, for their help on her musical journey and Ruth Sadilek for her guidance on this piece.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
My piece is called "Jewel Mandala." It has a repeating motif that acts like jewels shimmering in the light of the sun. I wrote it in D Dorian mode because it gave a calming aspect to the piece. I included different rhythms to showcase the shifting that happens when looking at a mandala. As your gaze comes closer to the center, you discover something new and different about the artwork. It is this journey that my song captures.
Lillian Karns
Laid to Rest
BIOGRAPHY
Lillian Karns will begin attending classes at Clackamas Community College this summer. She lives with her parents, Shawn and Marie Karns, her sister, and four cats--Ember, Shadow, Snowflake, and Spark. In her free time, she enjoys playing video games, Dungeons and Dragons, and Magic; The Gathering. She loves singing, playing piano, and composing. Lillian says that for her final piece for YCP she bounced back and forth on what she wanted to do, but ultimately settled on “Laid to Rest.” Lillian sends a big thank you to her wonderful piano and composition teacher, Laura McMillan, who has helped teach and guide her through years, allowing her to make pieces she can be proud of.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
For my final piece for YCP I bounced back and forth on what I wanted to do, but ultimately I settled on my piece Laid to Rest. Laid to Rest was originally a duet for oboe and flute called Anxiety, made for a short film I created to show how anxiety feels. I saw the potential for expanding the piece by writing a part for piano, then cello and percussion. Thank you to my wonderful piano and composition teacher, Laura McMillan, who has helped teach and guide me through years, allowing me to make pieces I can be proud of.
Raiden Ray
Tennis De Tavalo
BIOGRAPHY
Raiden Ray is in eighth at Athey Creek Middle School. His parents are Xochi Ray, a visual artist, and Eliza Jane Schneider, a performing artist and musician. Raiden is fresh off of a performance of Descendants as “Maleficent,” for the West Linn Wilsonville district’s annual Middle School Musical, and last year he performed the role of “Les” in Newsies for the same organization. Other favorite roles have been Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, Olaf in Frozen Kids for Lakewood’s summer children’s theater program, and Applegate/the Devil in Damn Yankees for Northwest Children’s Theater’s Catalyst program, with whom he is slated to perform in Matilda and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat this summer. In his free time, he likes to write, direct, and produce films with his friends, and he is currently performing and songwriting in Youth Music Project’s Advanced Band. He won the judges award at Athey Idol this year singing & playing an Elton John song. He participated in the Young Composer’s Project last year as well, and his composition instructor is Nicholas Emerson.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
“Tennis De Tavalo “is a piece written for Flute, Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Cello, Vibraphone, Percussion, and Piano. It is meant to emulate a game of Ping Pong.
Elishiya Crain-Keddie
Electoral Cycle
(I. Electoral Cycle II. Swing States III. Election Night)
BIOGRAPHY
Elishiya Crain-Keddie is a senior at the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics in Vancouver, Washington, and will be studying music composition at the USC Thornton School of Music this coming fall. This is her third year in the Young Composers Project. Her concert overture "Innamorata" was premiered by the Metropolitan Youth Symphony last fall, and she was selected as a 2023/24 Luna Lab Honorable Mention. She has studied composition with Kyle Rivera and Steve Lewis, and cello with Elizabeth Byrd. Outside of composition, she is the section leader and principal cellist of her high school Chamber Orchestra (which just performed at Carnegie Hall this April), and has spent the last year performing her original arrangements of 2020s pop songs around Portland as "Cello Swift". In her free time, Elishiya enjoys boba tea, pop and classical music, anything Disney, and travelling with her mother Karly, father Jeff, and sister Lydia.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
"Electoral Cycle" is a three-movement work for mixed chamber ensemble centering the anxious chaos of a presidential election. The first movement, "Farewell Address", contains a single elegaic theme passed and modulated between the cello and flute under rolling waves of piano arpeggios - the second movement, "Swing States", is a jazzy swing dance tune with an uneasy theme and rotating tuplet solos - and the third movement, "Election Night", devolves into a series of frantic runs and a dramatic cello solo before resolving with a reprise of the sorrowful theme from the first movement. Together, these three movements reflect the ups and downs of election season, united by a shared, melancholy minor key representing the sadness certain elections often beget.
Isaac Alexander Pendergrass III
The Rising Sword
BIOGRAPHY
Isaac Alexander Pendergrass III is a violinist and sixth-grader at St. Francis Catholic School in Sherwood. Isaac found his love for video game music in 2023, when he began paying attention to the music while playing Minecraft. He began collaborating with his sister, A’shariá René Pendergrass, which led to new and exciting ideas. Isaac studies violin with Ruth Sadilek and composition with Andrew Poole Todd. Isaac completed Video Game Scoring Workshop, a college level course offered by Indiana University. He is also a skilled soccer player and was invited to compete in the Porto International Cup in Porto, Portugal. He is also a 2024 State Cup Champion with the Westside Metros 13B Copa Red soccer team. Isaac is a level four, Royal Academy of Dance certified, danseur and trains with the June Taylor School of Dance. He has also qualified for the 2025 National Geography Bee. In his free time, he enjoys coding and problem solving. Isaac’s parents are Isaac and Kateshia Pendergrass, and this is his third year in Young Composers Project.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
The Rising Sword is the story of an ancient evil god, named Orika. The piece begins with an introduction to all of the gods. They are creating the world in order and peace. Orika, driven by resentment of the other gods not approving his wayward creations, decides that this newly created world should be used as a torture mechanism and begins to wreak havoc over the land. The other gods, unwilling to conform to his ways, decide to seal him in the abyss - never to disturb the natural order again.
Alex Tran
a lot of things happen in April
BIOGRAPHY
Alex Tran is in the eleventh grade at Catlin Gabel School. He lives Hillsboro with his parents, Truc and Thuong, and his younger sister. Besides composing, he plays the piano, violin, zither, and clarinet, including piano with the Catlin Gabel Jazz Band and violin with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. Alex is also a cofounder of the Euphonos Ensemble. Besides music, he enjoys math, programming, poetry, and swimming. He is a Caroline D. Bradley Scholar, and was the Oregon winner and Northwest Division alternate winner in the 2022–2023 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Junior Piano Performance Competition, as well as the Oregon winner and Northwest alternate winner in the 2024–2025 MTNA Senior Competition. Alex studies piano with Dr. Renato Fabbro and violin and composing with Ruth Sadilek.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
My piece is called “a lot of things happen in april.” It features a prominent, repeating theme with variations composed in an improvisatory-like manner. To me, April is a very significant transitional month in the year, and I wanted to write something reflecting and communicating the developing emotions I associate with this month.
Beckett Olson
The Faerie’s Lament
BIOGRAPHY
Beckett Olson is a senior at Grant High School and this is his second year in Young Composers Project. Outside of composing, he rock climbs, spends time with his parents, Lisa and Slate, and studies saxophone with Mieke Bruggeman and Sean Fredenburg. He performs in his high school band and in the fall, he will attend Ithaca College where he plans to major in music.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
The Faerie's Lament is inspired by an Irish folk song called Port Na bPúcai, or The Fairy Lament. The folk song is believed to have originated from a fisherman's interpretation of a whale song carried over the waves. The song's other origin tells the fable of a group of Faeries mourning their dead queen through song. This take on a traditional folk song is intended to express a slightly darker yet equally mournful side of the legend.
Skye Neal
Elegy for Lost Time
BIOGRAPHY
Skye Neal is a sophomore at Lake Oswego High School. Her music is heavily inspired by the freedom of the outdoors. This is her 7th year in YCP. She has studied theory & composition with Dr. Mátti Kovler since 2017, and she also plays piano and sings in her school choir. She is the 2024-25 Composer in Residence for the Junior Orchestra of Yamhill County (JOY), a program providing elementary school students with free access to music education. Skye's pieces have won recognition by Webster University's Young Composers Competition, Music Teachers National Association, National Federation of Music Clubs, National Young Composers Challenge, Tribeca New Music, Young Women's Composition Competition, and Oregon Music Education Association. She also had the honor of attending the Juilliard Summer Composition Intensive in 2024.
When Skye isn’t composing or making music, you might find her on the Willamette river with her rowing team, or bird-watching in a local park.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
My piece, “Elegy for Lost Time,” is a reflection on all the days that have come to pass, all the realities that could have been, and the freedom that comes with letting go. The piece begins in C minor, with a solemn, reminiscent theme first introduced in the clarinet, later repeated in the cello. This theme is meant to represent the sadness of knowing you can never return to the past. As the piece goes on, it moves to a more hopeful theme in the relative major of E flat, representing the nostalgia of returning to forgotten moments. The piece then takes a turn into a more tumultuous section, with lots of arpeggios in the piano and clarinet, as memories begin to swim and blur. In the end, a variant of the first theme returns, with a new sense of clarity and direction as it begins to move forward from the past.
Elaina Stuppler
60 Percent
BIOGRAPHY
Elaina Stuppler is a junior at Lakeridge High School, where she takes percussion, wind ensemble, and jazz band with Daniel Hartley. Her student-led jazz combo won first in state at the Oregon Music Education Association. Elaina plays trombone with the Portland Youth Philharmonic and also dances with her school’s varsity team. She is grateful to the Young Composers Project for providing this extraordinary opportunity to hear her music performed by incredible musicians and to have had her composition workshopped this year by Caroline Shaw.
PROGRAM NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
The piece creates a landscape of stress through a persistent piano bass line and rhythmic percussion. Chromatic passages and syncopated motifs mirror the emotional roller coaster of being constantly assessed. Drawing from baroque, jazz, modern, and funk influences, "60%" incorporates contrasting musical styles, representing various pressures students face. Throughout the composition, these themes interact and collide, asking whether a letter grade should measure a student's self-worth.
A special THANK YOU to our donors who make YCP possible.
Fear No Music is supported by funding from: Ronni LaCroute, Reed College, New Music USA, Oregon Arts Commission, Multnomah County Cultural Coalition, and Regional Arts and Culture Council.