Dr. Zosha Di Castri's cutting edge compositions have been described as "captivating and multi-dimensional."
The St. Albert-raised Di Castri, now a faculty member at Columbia University, is a triple threat in the new music field as a pianist, composer and sound artist.
The St. Albert Chamber Music Society has invited Rolston String Quartet to perform a concert at Red Willow Place on Sunday, Feb. 11. The expressive musicians will play, among other classical repertoire, Di Castri's Quartet No. 1, a spectrum of sound moving fluidly between delicacy and strong rhythmic counterpoints.
The École Saint Marguerite d'Youville graduate will also attend this special performance. Edmonton Youth Orchestra conductor Michael Massey will host a pre-concert interview with Di Castri at 6:45 p.m. as well as a post-concert chat.
Below is a series of questions Di Castri graciously answered prior to the concert.
Q. What attracted you to contemporary classical composition?
A. What drew me to new music composition was the possibility of creating something out of nothing, of having a voice, and exploring sound in a more experimental, abstract way. I think that there is value in music that pushes the envelope and challenges us to listen in new ways. For me, creating new music is a way of processing the world around me.
Q. When did you start composing and could you describe your first works?
A. I started improvising at the piano as a teenager, before I ever would call myself a composer. I would play and play, but didn’t have much theoretical background for writing down what I was creating. I didn’t really think much of it; it was just something that I did to relax, to express myself. It was through the encouragement of my parents, Maria and Julian Di Castri, and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s Young Composers program that I first tried writing down my ideas on paper and began to learn how to compose for other instruments. Needless to say, this was a pretty unique first experience to get to work with an orchestra, so I was hooked. When I went to pursue my undergrad at McGill University, I immediately contacted the head of the composition area to figure out how I could double major in composition and performance. My first works were rather tame, somewhat Romantic with folk-like dance melodies, but as I was introduced to works from the last 100 years or so, my conception of what music could be really opened up.
Q. What composers were your early passions and why?
A. Growing up, I loved the imaginative atmospheres Debussy’s music evokes through his beautiful colours and original harmonies. I found Bartok’s rhythmic vitality and folkloric roots exciting to play and listen to. I continue to go back to Bach, which to me is timeless, exquisitely crafted, and very spiritual.
Q. What do you consider to be an incisive moment in your career?
A. There are two moments in particular that I see as having a defining impact on my early career. The first was participating in the Young Composers program with composer in residence Alan Gilliland and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra just before going off to college. My lessons with Alan were so encouraging and motivating; it really made me curious to go further with my studies. The Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity has been another huge influence. I have had numerous interactions with the Centre, including a short summer residency in 2010, where I wrote La forma dello spazio and met composer John Adams, who became an important mentor for my career.
Q. What do you usually start with when composing?
A. When starting to write a new piece, I begin with a very vague idea and a notebook. First come words – descriptors of what I want the music to sound like or do. This usually progresses toward drawings of abstract gestures or formal diagrams. Through a long process of whittling down my ideas, I graduate towards writing notes on the page, but often only after a long period of experimenting with sound on the computer, improvising at the piano or with my voice, or sometimes through workshops directly with musicians. Notation for me is the very last stage, a transcription of a near finished product in my head. (And titles almost always come last.)
Q. Did you follow this method when composing Quartet No.1, the commission for the 2016 Banff International String Quartet Competition? If not, what was your approach?
A. When composing the string quartet for BISQC, I used my regular sketching methods. I played around with various samples and string recordings I’ve made over the years using programs like Logic Pro (a fancy version of Garage Band) to “mockup” ideas for the piece. This enables me to test out different sound combinations and to get immediate sonic feedback on my work, which I like. I also decided that since 10 quartets would be playing this piece and I would have limited interaction with them before the competition, that I would hire musician friends in New York for a series of workshops to help me develop the piece and check the notation. This was incredibly helpful and inspiring, and ultimately allowed me to write something that is very challenging, but also idiomatic and rewarding to play.
Q. Currently, what are your main compositional challenges?
A. My main compositional challenge these days is simply finding time to write without interruption. Between the demands of a tenure-track teaching position at Columbia University, and having a three-year-old, it can be difficult to carve out blocks of time needed for concentrated work.
Q. What role do you see contemporary classical composers having in the 21st century?
A. Moving into the 21st-century, composers are contending with an extremely wide and varied field of sound possibilities. Whereas post World War II, contemporary music was much more divided into camps with dogmatic agendas, I think composers nowadays have quite a lot of freedom to incorporate influences and techniques from many musical sources (including popular, improvised, electronic, and intercultural traditions). The main offering we as composers have today is the ability to encourage people to listen differently, to open their minds to new ways of sounding. Given the current political climate, especially in the United States right now, this ability to truly listen and be receptive to difference is something that I personally value.
Q. What do improvisation and composition mean to you and what are their respective merits?
A. Personally I don’t see improvisation and composition as being opposite ways of making music. I use both in my creative process. By composition, we tend to imply working out in advance (usually over a substantial period of time) a piece of notated music, whereas most people understand improvisation to be a more spontaneous way of inventing music “live”. What’s easy to forget is that the best improvisers spend countless hours honing their craft, practicing, developing their ideas and ability to react and respond effectively in the moment. I use improvisation to help me generate organic sounding ideas while composing. I also have moments of freedom within my written scores, where the performers have passages of guided improvisation. I am interested in hearing the musicians’ unique stamps on my work, and appreciate the nuance and liveliness that this freedom can bring to my written music.
Q. Music is increasingly hybridized with other art forms (e.g.. painting, dance, cinema). How do you feel about these new relationships and what is music's new role?
A. There is a long history of music interacting with other art forms such as dance, theatre, and film, however it’s true that this has become a more prominent form of artistic expression in recent years. As an artist, many of my projects are interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature. I have worked with visual artists, choreographers, and videographers. I have taken classes in sculpture and electronic music, learning to weld, use the woodshop, and record and manipulate sound. Beyond composing, I also create sound installations and have works that involve kinetic sound sculptures. I am very interested in how the arts can intersect and combine to create an experience that is greater than its individual parts, however that is not to say that I think music necessarily always needs visual aspects in order to keep an audience’s attention. There is a danger in underestimating our listeners. It all depends on what the project requires to best communicate its intent. Sometimes a string quartet is all that is needed.
