5x5 Five Minutes, Five Questions Composer Michael Schelle

Michael Schelle
Michael Schelle

Michael Schelle's music has been commissioned and/or performed by more than 350 orchestras, symphonic bands and professional chamber ensembles across the United States and abroad. This weekend, the Fort Smith Symphony will premiere his double concerto for viola, cello and orchestra. Titled "Resilience," it commemorates the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Schelle answered these questions for What's Up!

Q. Were you a musician before you became a composer? How did you make the choice/decision to become a composer?

FAQ

Fort Smith Symphony:

‘The Greatest Generation’

WHEN — 7:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE — ArcBest Corp. Performing Arts Center, 55th S. Seventh St. in Fort Smith

COST — $15-$43

INFO — 452-7575

A. My mother, a World War II R.N., demanded a piano when she was pregnant with me and took lessons up till the month I was born, then she lost all interest. That piano is the same piano I still have in my studio and compose on. [I] started piano lessons at age 5 in New Jersey; kept at it with standard fare (Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, etc.) but stopped in high school and started a rock band (where I played keyboards and guitar). Undergrad college in Philadelphia was [as a] theater major, but when I was a junior I saw the Philadelphia Orchestra (Eugene Ormandy, conductor) perform Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring," and that was that. I sold my rock gear and decided Stravinsky was way cooler than Jimi Hendrix and started my life in the direction of composition.

Q. What inspired "Resilience"? Is there a family connection to World War II?

A. I have visited Dachau, Hiroshima, Tokyo, and left with overwhelming emotions [about] World War II. Long a self-taught student of all things World War II, my father (1915-2004) was an officer in the US Navy, Pacific Theater, 1941-45, my mother (1917-2014) a World War II R.N. The 70th anniversary of the end of World War II meant a lot to me, and I wanted to embrace it in a personal -- yet universal -- approach. Also, my wife, pianist/composer Miho Sasaki, is Japanese.

Q. When you write a piece of music with a specific connection to a world event, do you worry about the message being understood? Or is there a message?

A. Not necessarily a particular message, more an aura/environment/persona of resilience, and the struggle for peace ...

Q. What are the joys and challenges of hearing a piece debut?

A. The excitement and nerves of giving birth: You basically know what it will sound like, but when you hear the 80-piece orchestra bring it [to] life, it's amazing. One also hopes all the parts are accurate!

Q. What do you hope audiences take away from this performance?

A. Peace, and an appreciation for the piece.

-- Becca Martin-Brown

bmartin@nwadg.com

NAN What's Up on 10/02/2015

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