Adalyn Sidon, COMPOSER - “Soliloquy”
Interview Questions, 7/30/23:
How old are you?
I just turned 15 years old last month.
What instruments do you play?
I play viola and French horn, and I play mellophone in marching band. I have played the viola since I was 6, and I began the French horn after the covid-19 shutdown.
What school do you go to?
I go to Roosevelt High School and Central Academy.
What do you like to do outside of music?
I play tennis and basketball at school, and I also love the outdoors, so I do lots of biking, kayaking, and other outdoor activities!
What is the name of the piece that will be premiered at Together Through Sound?
I named the piece Soliloquy because I envision the piece as a wandering of thoughts.
Is this the first piece you have composed?
No, this is not the first piece I have composed. I’ve been composing for as long as I remember, and became serious when I was 11, and have written other pieces, including other symphonic works and small ensembles. I wrote a viola-piano piece that I played with a pianist friend and submitted to a competition.
How did you learn how to compose? Did you take lessons?
My family loves music, and as a daughter of a musician, I have been going to and observing concerts for as long as I remember. When I was a toddler, I spent my summers at a music camp where my mom worked, and there was always music happening there. I always have music floating around in my head, and this led to me thinking of my own creations. When writing a composition, I spend a lot of time experimenting on my viola with different melodies and sounds. I play every part on my viola before writing it down. I taught myself how to orchestrate by observing performances, paying attention to how parts fit together when I am playing in an orchestra, and by asking musician friends of mine about how their instruments work in an orchestra setting. I have not taken composition lessons, but in the past school year, I took AP Music Theory and learned a lot of fundamentals that I was then able to incorporate into my compositions.
Walk me through your composition process.
It took me 4 months to write Soliloquy, but the ideas come to me in spurts. I will spend a few hours one day and compose a good portion of my piece, then not write anything for the next couple of weeks. Usually the ideas come to me either at an inconvenient time in my head, or I will be messing around on my viola and then will play something and think ‘that sounds pretty good, I’m going to write that down.’ I stress about my transitions, and try and force myself to write them, but eventually I just have to wait for it to come. After I write a section, I go back and edit things and add parts to make the music sound fuller. When I hear a melody in my head, I hear it in a specific instrument timbre. After I’ve written all the music, I listen to my computer software play it a bunch and make final changes.
When I get an idea, I make a beeline for my composition software program so I can write it down. I always play each fragment of music on my viola before writing it down. For Soliloquy, I began the piece with a melody I had subconsciously been playing on my viola.
I’m super excited for my piece to be premiered at this event because it will be amazing to see my music be performed by such great live musicians.
