Antigua!

Go Compose is a 1-day training programme for young composers which was created by the UK’s most well-known new music organisation, Sound and Music and has been run in venues all over the UK for several years. In 2019, The Commonwealth Resounds visited Antigua to deliver a wide variety of musical outreach including several Go Compose sessions for composers on the island.

Go Compose offers the young composers a ‘crash course’ in composition, where in a single day, they are coached by expert composition tutors and professional instrumentalists and enabled to write a short piece of music, which is then rehearsed and recorded. This provides a very positive first experience for young emerging composers.

GO COMPOSE, ANTIGUA! included the following participants:

• Alison Cox, Head of Composition, The Purcell School – Key Tutor
• Khan Cordice, Steelpan Expert, Composer and Director of Music, The Clare School – Associate Key Tutor
• Ka Youn Yoo, Alex Papp and Joshua Mock – Young Composition Assistants
• Jordan Black, Alex Papp, Joshua Mock and Khan Cordice – Performers.
• Young composers Teshanna, Brianna, Erienne, Deniko, Khadijah, Jahfari, Tatyana, Tasheka, Khara and Alliyah

The young composers wrote for four instruments – clarinet, viola, steelpan and cello, some of which were familiar to them and others which were not! There was a lot of lively discussion about combining and notating different musical techniques and special effects. Graphic scores were used by those who wanted to present their music visually in a different way.

All 10 young composers managed to finish their pieces in a single day, by working incredibly hard and making full use of the opportunity.