Ravinia Steans Music Institute 2019

12 RAVINIA’S STEANS MUSIC INSTITUTE When you began picking up pia- no, did you follow classical stud- ies for any length of time, or was jazz your passion from the start? I used introductory piano books for about a year, then went straight into jazz due to the amazing pro- grams and resources in the Bay Area. I studied classical technique at Oberlin for a year, but that was it. I remember the exact instant when I decided I wanted to pursue jazz piano: when my parents took me to see Herbie Hancock. I had been playing for about a year. Ob- viously it’s a little bit of a stretch to say I knew I wanted to be a profes- sional jazz musician at age , but I was so moved that I feel like I had some inkling. I could say I o cially knew I wanted to be a professional musician in my sophomore year of high school. I had just come back from a ve-week summer workshop at Berklee, and I was so pleasantly overwhelmed by that experience and the Bay Area jazz scene that I knew I wanted to keep playing. Coming up through those Bay Area jazz programs and then Oberlin and the Ban Workshop, did you get much experience with the sort of jazz/chamber music of Bridges? I did get some exposure through the ‘Performance in Improvisi- tions’ program at Oberlin led by Jamey Haddad. Jazz majors and classical majors formed groups together to play original music and music by the program’s guest artists. But before that, it was Bil- ly Childs’s jazz/chamber music albums that got me into this kind of music. And you had a chance to play with Billy Childs during those early years. I rst met Billy Childs when I was at Oberlin. He came to premiere one of his pieces, and I was lucky enough to play in the group that opened for him. We played two of his compositions, and he coached us in rehearsal. It was an absolute treat. I had been listening to him since early high school, when I had to play his “Like Father, Like Son” for an audition. In the Ober- lin concert, we played “Backwards Bop” and “Quiet Girl,” two songs I had listened to dozens of times. It was an unparalleled experience getting critiqued by Mr. Childs and getting some insight into how he composed and playing the piec- es. My respect and admiration for Mr. Childs de nitely played into my desire to enter the Bridges Competition, and you can imag- ine how honored and excited I am that he chose my composition and that I get to work closely with him again! Your winning piece, Staircase , evolved from jazz piano trio to having horns to having strings to having strings and a sax. How do you feel out what is or isn’t working, what’s missing or is too much, in your music? I’ve always had a tendency to “over-compose”—I o en create textures that are too dense or parts that are too busy. e more instru- ments there are, the easier it is to do this. at was my main concern when composing this piece. I tried to avoid it by creating sections that featured only some of the instru- ments. For example, you will hear that there is a section with just strings as well as a section with just the rhythm section. Not having written for strings before Staircase , how did you de- cide that strings would give you the texture that you wanted in place of the horn section? My initial motivation to use strings was because of the requirements of the competition, but I was also very excited to challenge myself to compose for an instrumentation I’d never used before. us, rather than deciding strings would create a texture I was looking for, the fact that I was going to use strings was what inspired the textures of the piece. In my opinion, strings can be used to create more cinematic, epic textures. In describing Staircase , you’ve talked about textures and habits and wisdom. Are you o en com- posing with these sorts of grand- scheme themes as your guide, or are your themes just as o en more singular? It depends on the song. With Stair- case , I had the grand scheme in mind, in that it informed aspects of the feel and sonorities of each section. However, I o en compose without a full layout in mind, so that new sections can be inspired by existing sections. Last summer you did some work- shops and performances in South Africa and recorded an album of jazz standards from the nation. Do you see these new experienc- es—delving into foreign stan- dards and trying out new instru- mentations—remaining an open book and having a lasting impact on your writing and playing? is is a very good question, be- cause those performances and recordings were the rst time I had played with an orchestra [the Johannesburg Festival Orches- tra]. In fact, when recording the album, we recorded the rhythm section and horns rst, and this was essentially used as a back- ing track for the strings. rough this process, I saw how much the strings enriched the pieces, and it inspired me to make use of them in future recordings. It was amaz- ing to play jazz standards that I’d never heard of and that are rarely, if ever, played in the United States. Many elements were similar to those found in jazz standards here, but they de nitely had a di erent sound. Go check out e South African Jazz Songbook if you’re curious! What have you heard or played recently that’s triggered the cre- ative itch? I’ve been listening to a lot of Ger- ald Clayton, Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Herbie Hancock, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. While I’ve listened to all of these artists for years, I feel like every time I listen to them I hear something I’d never heard before. What do you hope the jazz and classical musicians playing Stair- case can take away from it about each other’s discipline? I just feel humbled that these world-class musicians are playing my piece, so it’s hard to say they’ll take anything away from it. My hope is that they will enjoy playing the piece and grow from playing with each other. I made sure to in- clude multiple improvised as well as through-composed sections, so there is something for everyone! What are you looking forward to in the rehearsals and premiere of Staircase ? ere is so much to look forward to. First of all, Billy Childs and Ru- fus Reid have been musical idols for years now. I hope they tear my piece apart, because I know they’ll have so much to add to it. Having expert musicians critique your composition is an excellent way to learn. I’m also very much looking forward to hearing how my piece sounds with the musicians in resi- dence that will be playing it. Many of them just so happen to be artists I listen to and love. What are you working on now? I’m currently in the early stages of three compositions. Like most of my compositions, they start out with a piano part, but they could end up evolving into pieces for any number of instrumentations! YEVHEN GULENKO