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.
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.
Read MoreAs 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.
Read MoreSo, 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.
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