Listen to Katia’s composition performed by the Queensland Youth Chamber Orchestra, 30 September 2020, The Old Museum, Bowen Hills.
Listen to Katia’s original composition submitted with her entry.
I am an 18-year-old composer, studying a Bachelor of Classical Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Studying classical piano from the age of three, I developed a passion for classical music and performing. I began composing at the beginning of high school, learning from both Dr Huw Belling and Jack Symonds – two composers who I still continue to admire and be in awe of such intricate works in which they create. At twelve, I began to play the oboe, which lead me to have a deeper passion for works written for both orchestra and wind symphonies. In 2017, I had the opportunity to travel on a music tour to Europe, performing in venues including St Peter’s Basilica and the Slovenian caves in Postojna. Between 2018 and 2019, I performed with the UNSW Wind Symphony, as well as doing a number of musicals and performances. From here, although I loved performing, there was something new and intriguing about composing that I just missed from simply just performing, leading me to my first year at the Conservatorium.
Composition Inspiration
When writing this work, I began to think about works that were particularly exhilarating and joyous, which immediately led to the works of Arturo Márquez, Robert Sheldon and José Pablo Moncayo. The orchestral and piano works of these three artists heavily inspired and influenced the way I orchestrated this work as these three artists always seem to have direction in terms of where their melody is going, which is an idea I toyed with in this fanfare.
Retrospectively, I never really classify as being true to one genre or style of music, but I find myself being drawn to works that deliver something new to the musical sphere. Whether that includes Liza Lim’s impeccable understanding of sound as a concept in itself within all of her works, Maurice Ravel’s idea of music relating to untainted landscapes, or even Kendrick Lamar’s fusion of genres within his concept albums. Ultimately, I ponder on whether we should write music thinking about where the idea initially stemmed from, or whether we should write music in hopes that the work becomes the inspiration to others and possibly generates more innovation than imaginable.