Mentorship is important in any field, but particularly so in musical composition. Developing a successful career as a composer without support or guidance is nearly impossible.
Addressing the need for mentorship, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra is partnering with the American Composers Orchestra in a program called EarShot. It pairs established and emerging composers and gives the up and comers the chance to have their music rehearsed, performed and recorded.
Jimmy López Bellido, one of the mentor composers, might be familiar to area audiences thanks to performances by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.
He says he’s learned the most in his career not from competitions and master classes but from hands-on exchanges with musicians. Conductors can give advice on balances and dynamic ranges of instruments, and instrumentalists can share insider knowledge.
“When it comes to the mechanics of an instrument, no one can actually know more than the instrumentalists themselves. So if there’s something about how to produce a sound in the flute, then they will know better.”
The experience can also teach composers the value of clearly conveying their intentions.
“That’s one of the things that composers need to learn,” López Bellido says. “What are the best and most economic and direct markings on the score that will allow for a swift rehearsal process so that musicians and conductors can understand your intentions right off the bat? And then we can actually focus on the music.
“As composers, our first step, our responsibility is to actually be as clear as we can.”
Starting out as a composer, López Bellido says, he had to create opportunities, assembling musicians to perform and record his music. Indeed, there’s no better calling card for composers than a recording, which can lead to gigs and commissions.
EarShot, on the other hand, creates opportunities for early professional performances and feedback.
“Everything in life is about connections,” López Bellido says. “You need to find real allies, people who believe in your music, people who connect with it. And that can only be achieved if your music is played or listened to.
“Today we have tools like social media, where we can have our music available for whoever wants to listen to it. But nothing really replaces the experience of human connection and live concert music.”
Since Earshot’s founding in 1988, participant composers have gone on to successful careers. Notable alumni include Jennifer Higdon — a Pulitzer Prize winner and one of the most performed living composers in America — and Carlos Simon. Composer in residence at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Simon is having works performed by symphony orchestras across the country.
Along with López Bellido, the mentor composers will include Xi Wang, who teaches at Southern Methodist University, and Dallas-based Quinn Mason. Maurice Cohn, the DSO’s assistant conductor, will lead the orchestra June 21 in performances of music by the emerging composers: Moni (Jasmine) Guo, Diallo Banks, Ricardo Ferro and Iván Enrique Rodríguez.
Diversity was a key factor in the selection process, says Garrett McQueen, director of artist equity at the American Composers Orchestra.
“We’re very excited to offer audiences the opportunity to hear the musical perspectives of four composers who come from very different backgrounds and experiences.”
Details
2 p.m. June 21 at the Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St. Free. Dallassymphony.org.
