C of O Students attend Composition Masterclass

On February 9th, College of the Ozarks students attended a Composition Masterclass with Angélica Negrón and afterwards attended a concert of new music, all written by living composers.

The students had the opportunity to sit in on a 45 minute round-table discussion with Negrón and discuss novel approaches to composition, as well as see a demonstration of her vegetable keyboard, which she used to perform later that night.

"It was interesting to hear from an electronically oriented composer," Jordy Hake, senior Music Theory and Composition major said. "Often composition students can get on a one-track-mind sort of rut in composing the sort of music they're most familiar with; Angélica Negrón's music was a synthesis of so many styles and genres, it was quite inspiring and elicited a bunch of new ideas and approaches."

Laura Berthold, senior English and Piano major, described the vegetable interface as a "fascinating and innovative technique of electronic music performance."

The students enjoyed the experience and were grateful for the opportunity to hear from another established professional within their field, as well as to hear new music performed in concert.