Creative Voices Podcast v.2

In this episode you’ll hear from composer/performer Catherine Likhuta about how her oratorio "Scraps from a Madman’s Diary" came to be. Catherine talks about inspiration and incubation as important parts of her creative process.

Music for this episode was from Catherine’s oratorio “Scraps from a Madman’s Diary” performed by the Queensland Conservatorium Wind Orchestra conducted by Peter Morris.

You can watch the premiere performance in its entirety on YouTube: youtu.be/yjmgdkgediA

You can find Catherine’s complete bio and links to other compositions on her website: catherinelikhuta.com.

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Catherine Likhuta is an Australian-based composer, pianist and recording artist. Her music exhibits high emotional charge, programmatic nature and rhythmic complexity. Catherine's works have been performed throughout North America, Europe and Australia. Her pieces have been played at several international events, including two International Horn Symposiums and World Saxophone Congress. Her concertino for 5 horns entitled Hard to Argue won the International Horn Society Composition Contest, virtuoso division.

Catherine holds a Bachelor's degree in jazz piano from Kyiv Glière Music College and a five-year post-graduate degree in composition from the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine (Kyiv Conservatory). She is currently pursuing a PhD in composition at the University of Queensland. She has delivered presentations on her work at a number of institutions, including Queensland Conservatorium, Cornell University, Ithaca College, Arizona State University, Syracuse University, Butler University and Bowling Green State University.

Episode 1: Letting it brew with Catherine Likhuta

In this episode you’ll hear from high school band director Kim Fleming. She shares her personal journey of unlocking her own creative potential and how she now encourages creative thinking in her students.

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Kim Fleming is the Co-Director of Bands at Wauconda High School in Wauconda, Illinois. Her responsibilities include directing the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Musical Pit Orchestra and codirecting the Basketball Pep Band and “Bulldog” Marching Band. She recently led performances with the Wauconda Bands at Disneyland in Anaheim, California through the Disney Performing Arts program. Fleming attended Northwestern University where she received her Masters in Wind Conducting studying with Dr. Mallory Thompson. While at Northwestern, she worked with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and wrote drill for the “Wildcat” Marching Band. Before moving to Illinois, Fleming was the Director of Bands at Woodcliff Middle School in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey and the Assistant Marching Band Director at Pascack Hill High School in Montvale, New Jersey. While at Woodcliff Lake, she commissioned local composers to write band pieces at the middle school level. In addition to teaching, Fleming has guest conducted community bands including the Ridgewood Concert Band (NJ) and the Raritan Valley Symphonic Band (NJ). She has attended numerous wind conducting symposia and has worked with notable conductors including H. Robert Reynolds, Michael Haithcock, Steve Davis and Craig Kirchhoff. Fleming earned her bachelor’s degree in music education from Ithaca College.

Voice Memos

Episode 3: Discovering the Creativity Within with Kim Fleming

In this episode you’ll hear from Professor Vasili Byros from Northwestern University about his experience as a period composer. Vasili talks about his 18th century musical diet and how the compositional process of composers like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven was related to jazz and pop music of today more than you may think!

Music for this episode was from Vasili's compositions:

"Fuga in B Minor" vimeo.com/85967917

"Prelude in D Minor" www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.15.21.…xamples.php?id=32

You can find Vasili's complete bio and more at his website: www.vasilibyros.com

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Vasili Byros is chair of the department of music studies and coordinator, advanced music theory curriculum (undergraduate) at Northwestern University. Professor Byros researches the compositional and listening practices of the long 18th century as linguistic and cultural pursuits, drawing on frameworks in music theory, history, and cognitive and social psychology, in order to reconstruct “insider” perspectives on music of the period. Byros’ research has dealt with issues of key perception and tonality, interactions between local and large-scale musical grammars, intersections between syntax and semantics, and musical communication (musical wit and humor in Mozart, and spiritual abnegation in Beethoven). 
His work takes a holistic view of the musical languages of the long 18th century, combining viewpoints from schema theory, Formenlehre, topic theory, and historical pedagogies. Along these lines, Professor Byros is currently working on a book project that examines musical creativity in the long eighteenth century from theoretical, analytic, and artistic/practical vantage points. In recent years, Byros has been developing period (or historically informed) approaches to composition, with period compositions of his own, as extensions of his work in historically informed listening, while drawing parallels with historically informed performance. 
He is also coordinator and course-designer of the advanced music theory curriculum at Northwestern, which is based on 18th-century period composition. Additional recent teaching includes upper-level and graduate courses on subjects ranging from classical form and advanced tonal analysis, to seminars on schema theory and historical informed musicking.

Episode 2: Creating Music in Old Styles with Vasili Byros

In this episode you’ll hear from middle school band director Mike Vecchio who talks about his experience guiding his middle school jazz band students through the composition process. Mike talks about the importance of relinquishing control, taking risks, and setting parameters that help guide students to a successful creative experience.

Music in this episode is from the blues heads composed and performed by members of the Maple Jazz Band.

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Mike Vecchio is the band director at Maple Middle School in Northbrook, Illinois. His responsibilities include directing the 5th grade Beginning Band, 6th-8th grade Symphonic Band and Jazz Band. He attended the University of Michigan where he earned masters degrees in Music Education and Euphonium Performance. He started his career teaching elementary general music (K-5), beginning band and beginning choir in Chester, New York. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Music Education and Euphonium Performance from Ithaca College.

Episode 4: Modeling the Blues with Mike Vecchio

In this episode you’ll hear from composer/arranger/performer Laura Intravia about her experience arranging and composing music. Laura talks about how creative problem solving can play a role in arranging a piece of music originally composed for a video game.

Today’s episode included music by Koji Kondo and Hajime Wakai from the 1997 game Star Fox 64. You heard Laura’s own arrangement performed by the Montreal-based L’Orchestre Jeux Vidéo.

This episode also includes “You Were There” from the 2001 game Ico composed by Michiru Ōshima, arranged by Laura Intravia, and featuring vocals by Omar Najmi and Laura Intravia.

You can find links to more of Laura’s performances and compositions at her website lauraintravia.com

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Laura Intravia is a performer, composer and arranger. Born and raised on Long Island, she is a graduate of Ithaca College with degrees in Composition and Vocal Performance and is internationally renowned for her multi-faceted musical career in both the concert world and multimedia industries.

Laura has won several awards for her original concert pieces and is also an avid arranger. Her orchestration experience and attention to detail are widely recognized by her colleagues, as she is frequently hired to arrange, orchestrate, proofread and copy music by composers/studios such as Christopher Tin, Austin Wintory, Wataru Hokoyama, Collective Muse Media and the Video Games Live concert series and albums. She has contributed arrangements to several albums of VGM arrangements (Materia, Harmony of Heroes) in addition to releasing her own arrangement singles, and has appeared on VGL: Level 3, 4 and 5 as an arranger/orchestrator. In 2014, Laura released Through Time and Space, a solo piano album of Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross music, which went on to become a #1 Amazon Bestseller. She was nominated for her first G.A.N.G. award for Best Game Music Cover/Remix in 2015 for her cover single "You Were There" from Ico.

Laura is active both onstage and in the recording studio as a singer and instrumentalist. She has performed in 19 countries across 4 continents as a guest soloist with the international concert tour Video Games Live since 2009, showcasing her multi-instrumental and vocal talents in a variety of genres. In 2014, she performed at the debut concerts of Pokemon: Symphonic Evolutions in Washington D.C, and made her debut at Madison Square Garden with the tour the following year. A trained opera singer, Laura recently appeared as Amy in Little Women with MetroWest Opera and as Young Iphis and Michael in the world premiere of The Body Politic with Juventas New Music Ensemble. In addition to performing on several VGL albums, she has also recorded for several award-winning video game and film soundtracks, working from her home studio in Boston. (Destiny, ReCore, Mages of Mystralia).

Between performances and projects, Laura is also a dedicated teacher. She is frequently commissioned to arrange for collegiate orchestras and wind ensembles. Laura contributes the monthly segment "Between the Lines" on Overclocked PodCast, where she discusses the application of music theory in video game music. Her mission is to educate musicians and non-musicians alike by using examples of popular, recognizable video game music to illuminate composition details and techniques.

Episode 2: Creating Music in Old Styles with Vasili Byros

Rob Yaple