blogs 2026
Featured
In the end, I think one should approach life as one would approach listening: paying attention to, appreciating, and treasuring what and who is already there. The extraordinary is often disguised as ordinary. Perhaps it is all a matter of framing.
What I want is to be a magician... to transmute sound into connection for anyone who dares to listen; to take those sound waves—the very fabric of the universe and of music itself—and shape them into the simplest, yet most powerful mechanism we have for tuning into ourselves: our emotions.
written by Keith Donaghue
I write this atop a snow-capped mountain in Vermont. Its quiet, except for the birds, and there are few manmade structures in sight, aside from a hand-built teahut. In that hut my friends and I will sit, as we have for years, drinking tea, sharing, listening, building… that intangible network of shared meaning we call community. Though this specific trip was prompted by 2 close friends being told they must leave the country soon (collateral of despotism), we build towards that same meaning: gathered, not hesitating to cherish our time together.
written by Harry González
I, from 2016, would be shocked by the music I am doing now, and hopefully, I would be shocked by the music I write in 10 years from now. We are humans, we are constantly evolving organic matter. We change, and our ideas change with us. Maybe tomorrow I will write about the sun rising in the morning, an opera about the Sancocho, or another Dreammares.Who knows. Just like recipes, our music identity, or the so-called “own voice,” is not a static expression, and it constantly evolves as we interact with the outer world while figuring out our inner selves. Instead of “finding your own voice,” maybe start thinking about finding your own path.
written by Marina López
We composers are a sensitive guild. We pour ourselves into our work, navigating an environment set as a zero sum game, of oversupply of dreamers ripe for professional abuse. All in the hopes that our voice will somehow, somewhere make an impact.
There is something defiant, revolutionary, even, about putting one’s nose to the grindstone in the midst of troubled times; about asserting our right as a community of curious souls, to explore the nitty gritty world of sounds.
written by Aaron Israel Levin
I had, more often than not, operated from the standpoint that composition needed to be strictly serious. A vessel for humanity’s deepest torments and spiritual profundity. If my music was funny, was I somehow doing it wrong? My initial reaction was confusion, followed quickly by embarrassment. Gabriela doubled down. “This is a special ‘Aaron ’ quality,” she said. “You should embrace it.” I sat with that for a while.
written by Sam Wu
As a child, I loved creating with legos. Instead of following an instruction manual, I’d try to design my own bridges and skyscrapers. The moment I realized music composition was my calling was when I felt that same warm, fuzzy feeling as I had building with legos––the joy of having created something from scratch.
written by Iván Enrique Rodríguez
So, a Composer… today? I might be biased, but I believe it is not only a useful contributing career; it is also a necessary one that, if pursued with the right ideals, is life-changing, enriching, and unifying, even in the face of violence, cruelty, or an uncertain and changing world. So, if there was a time to create music, that time is now, and I will continue to—sometimes afraid, and sometimes emboldened, but always committed—seize it with the next pieces I will create, as a work of passion, but also as part of my career.