FUNDAMENTALS OF MUSIC COMPOSITION
The Wilmington Symphony Orchestra is pleased to offer a new educational program concentrating on composition. Instructed by Algernon Robinson, the Fundamentals of Music Composition class is for high school students interested in writing music for solo or small ensemble instrumentation via music notation software and/or digital audio workstation.
In this music composition course, you will gain an understanding of music fundamentals while developing your own musical language. You will explore major and minor keys and learn tools to help you understand scales and chords, enabling you to incorporate them into your compositions. Participants should be able to read music and have a basic understanding of how to notate musical ideas.
Information:
Who: For high school students. Space is limited to five (5) students.
What: Class will cover melody synthesis, form, rhythm notation, and basic harmony. All musical styles/influences welcome.
When: Wednesdays for 8 weeks from 7:00 – 8:00 PM, starting October 2, 2024
Where: Cape Fear Community College’s Wilson Center.
Tuition: $225 per student for the 8 weeks.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Algernon Robinson (b. 1997) was called “a sophisticated composer with a fine ear” by Classical Voice North Carolina, who described his music as “a delightful exploration of tonality with sweeping gestures carved from a complex quasi-tonal pitch language”. A Wilmington native, Robinson began composition studies with Lowell Lieberman at Mannes School of Music. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied with Lawrence Dillon, and a master’s degree in composition from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Evan Chambers and Roshanne Etezady.
Robinson is deeply passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration and exploring the role of art as a herald for social and political change. His dance music video piece, Parapo, premiered at the Royal College of Music in 2019 in a presentation for Old Salem Museums and Gardens’ Hidden Town Initiative, which aims to “research and reveal the history of a community of enslaved and free Africans and African Americans who once lived in Salem, NC and integrate the narrative of the enslaved into the visitor experience through contemporary art forms, salon discussions, and public gatherings”.
Robinson has enjoyed premieres with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, Tallis Chamber Orchestra, Wilmington Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the University Philharmonia Orchestra at University of Michigan.