Lucas Flinner: It's really nice to actually take ideas that I've had and make something out of them.
James Stewart: That’s the voice of Lucas Flinner, a senior this year at Middlebury Union High School and this month’s featured composer for our Student Composer Showcase. Lucas’ piece “Moonshade” premiered at Music-COMP’s Opus 38 concert back in April of this year.
Music-COMP is Vermont’s premiere music composition mentoring program. They pair student composers, like Lucas, with professional mentors to help them realize their musical ideas.
Lucas: My mentor was Eric Nielsen. It was really helpful to be able to have advice from someone who's experienced in this area.
James: This was Lucas’ first year participating in Music-COMP and he’s just beginning his exploration of composition. But Lucas has been taking piano lessons for over nine years now.
Lucas: Even before I started composing, I've always loved just sitting at a piano and messing around playing whatever I want to, improvising. And I think that's a really good way to compose, to come up with ideas, because I can just do whatever I want and I might hear something that I like and I can put it in my piece.
James: For this year’s Opus 38 concert, Music-COMP partnered with TURNmusic to breathe life into the student composer's works. TURNmusic is a professional performing arts organization dedicated to the creation and performance of new music. Here’s TURNmusic performing Lucas’ work “Moonshade.”
"Moonshade” by Lucas Flinner
TURN music
Violins: Brooke Quiggins, Jane Kittredge
Cello: John Dunlop
Bass: Kyle Saulnier
Clarinet: Dan Liptak
Oboe: Katie Oprea
Bassoon: Rachael Elliot
Piano: Alison Cerutti
Performed at Music-COMP’s Opus 38 concert, April 30, 2024 at The Elley Long Music Center, Colchester, Vermont.
Performance audio recorded by Tank Recording Studios.
James: That was the ensemble TURNmusic performing “Moonshade” by Middlebury Union High School student Lucas Flinner at Music-COMP’s Opus 38 concert back in April of 2024. Lucas spent part of his summer participating in the Summer Composition Online Workshop with composer/mentor Kyle Saulnier. Participants spent a week creating original works and learning about the history and musicology behind Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. The student’s wrote their own pieces using the same instrumentation; violin, cello, clarinet and piano.
Lucas: Working with Kyle was a great opportunity. He didn't restrict us in any way and allowed us to write any style of piece we wanted, offering suggestions along the way. With his guidance, me and the other workshop students were able to write finished compositions in only five days, which was pretty incredible.
James: Lucas’ new work “An Undying Flame” will be premiered alongside other student’s pieces and Kyle Saulnier’s “Impulse.” The performance is Sunday, September 29th at the Waterbury UCC in Waterbury, Vermont at 4pm. It’s free and open to the public.
The Student Composer Showcase is produced in collaboration with Music-COMP, the music composition mentoring program and Lake Champlain Access Television. The Music Composition Mentoring Program (Music-COMP) is a Vermont non-profit started in 1995 that teaches students in grades 3-12 how to compose original music. Students are paired with professional composers as mentors, and over 50 works are premiered each year with professional musicians.
Performance audio recorded by Tank Recording Studios.
Production support for the Student Composer Showcase is provided by Lake Champlain Access Television, a community media center serving eight towns in Chittenden, Franklin, and Grand Isle Counties, providing a free forum for expression, and a link to local government and training. More at lcatv.org.
