Student Composers Perform their Original Music
On March 3, Associate Professor Ari Sherris of Bilingual Education organized “Conversations with Campus Authors and Composers,” an event to highlight the talent found within many students from Texas A&M University Kingsville (TAMUK).
“When I first came to this university in 2013, I discovered that some authors were not coming together. My first thought was to create an event where we all unite and include student composers – they are this university’s pride and joy. It is our third year doing this, and now thanks to Dr. [Robert] Vela, we can award scholarships.” Sherris said
The competition was open from Feb. 2 to March 24; students competed for three scholarships and the opportunity to showcase their hard work.
The first piece performed was composed by Bryson Ward, a music education major; his Tuba/ Euphonium quintet guided the audience on an auditory journey of a pirate ship’s exploration through the dangers at sea.
Maritza Gonzalez, a Music Education major, said Ward’s quintet has been in the works for quite some time now. It was first performed at TAMUK on Nov. 10, 2022, as an ensemble, then at the Texas Music Educators Association convention in February.
Cody Fountain, a self-taught guitar player and singer/songwriter, heard about this competition in an email and was determined to audition.
Fountain wrote his song about a man struggling to overcome his lingering pain after his wife becomes disloyal and betrays their marriage.
Despite not being a student from the School of Music, this Environmental Engineering student impressed the judges and not only made it to the end but also earned second place.
The final performance was composed by Alek Lopez, who placed first in the competition.
Lopez has explored multiple instruments and taught himself how to compose music since he was in high school.
His piece was more lighthearted and inspired by Dr. Doofenshmirtz from a cartoon, “Phineas and Ferb.”
“I enjoy having a musical theme that runs with it and makes fun of itself,” Lopez said.
