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KEANE SOUTHARD (US)

Artistic Statement: When I'm asked to describe my own music, I find the task extremely difficult. I remember being in a session with William Bolcom where someone asked him how he would describe his style, and he said, “I don't know. You tell me!” As a young composer, I know that I have not found my own unique compositional voice, or fingerprint, as George Crumb calls it, yet. In our age or recordings and the internet, with instant access to nearly any, and every, kind of music all over the world, a composer today has so much more music than in the past to explore before he/she learns what is really “his/her music”. Mozart only had whatever scores he could get his hands on and whatever concerts he could attend, and thus developed his own style while still young child. I am excited to explore every kind of music that I can find, and I often feel overwhelmed by all the great music that already exists. I believe one of the most important things for a composer today is to be open and willing to learn from all styles and genres of music and not let stereotypes get in the way of finding meaningful music (I believe this also holds true through all aspects of life). Like Charles Ives, I believe in substance over the manner it is presented through, and I have found and enjoyed many things in many different kinds of music. Consequently, I am a voracious listener and explorer of music. I have explored much of the standard classical repertoire and lots of rock and popular music in my teenage years, but recently I have purposely searched for gems outside the standard classical repertoire. Of course, this means that I have had to listen through hours and hours of music that I have no desire to listen to again before finding the hidden gems, but this is not wasted time. I approach every experience in my life as an opportunity to learn, and in music I have learned and gained much from pieces and composers that I don't particularly like or enjoy listening to.

So then what can I say about my music? While I hope that the music speaks for itself, the works that I have composed to date are heavily influenced by many diverse musical sources, many of which I am well aware of and others subconsciously. I'm also sure that there is some uniqueness, some of my own musical voice, somewhere in my music always, although the percentage is most definitely in the minority at this point. I have no doubt that my future compositions will grow in their effectiveness, range of influences, beauty, sophistication, and uniqueness as I explore and live more.

In the more recent past, I have been searching for effective ways to marry my passion for music and art with my unquenchable desire to help contribute as much as I possibly can to solving the many enormous and potentially catastrophic crises of the world. In light of these problems, I have gained a huge feeling of guilt because of my chosen career path. How can I be spending my life in so esoteric a field as contemporary, and often abstract, concert music when in a hundred years (or less) the world may not even exist, never mind my music, if we do not do all we can to solve problems of climate change, nuclear weapons disputes, racism, genocide, finite energy and water resources, etc.? I strongly believe that art and music always have to be evaluated and appreciated in light of a person's life experiences; that the substance does not come out of spending eight-plus hours a day in a practice room, but from meaningful life experiences. I have no doubt that art and music have a huge impact on people's lives, and consequently the world, but my problem is that I feel it often is not immediate, while these pressing world crises, such as climate change, must be dealt with now. This is surely something I will continue to explore and struggle with in the future and will have a huge impact on my music, if it hasn't already.

Biographical Information: Keane Southard (b. 1987) has had compositions performed by ensembles such as the Cleveland Chamber Symphony and the Algonquin Regional High School Choir. He has been a recipient of many awards including the 2003 Alice Procter Composition Award from the New England Piano Teachers’ Association as well as the 2005 Irl Allison, Sr. Award from the American College of Musicians’ Composition Contest, the Student Composer Award Winner for the 2006 American Art Song Competition, a 2007 Victor Herbert/ASCAP award from the National Federation of Music Clubs, the Lee Goldstein Composition Award from Baldwin-Wallace College, and the Cecil Effinger Composition Award from The University of Colorado-Boulder. He was also a finalist in the 2005 Massachusetts Educators National Conference Composition Contest and performed at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell and has twice been a finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. Keane is currently a first-year Masters student at the University of Colorado-Boulder studying music composition where he serves as a graduate assistant in music theory. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with his B.M. from the Conservatory at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, OH, where he double majored in music composition and music theory with a minor in english literature. His composition teachers include Kenneth Girard, Loris Chobanian, and currently Daniel Kellogg. In the summer of 2009, Keane was selected as a participant in the Northeastern University Fusion Arts Exchange, where he studied composition with Brian Robison and Hillary Zipper. In February 2010, his new cantata for chorus and orchestra will be premiered by the Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra in Portland, Maine in the finals of their composition competition.

As a pianist, Keane has focused his piano studies on unknown/under-performed repertoire, including works by Ives, Finzi, Rzewski, Gottschalk, as well as premiering his own works and those of his colleagues. An eight-time National Member of the American College of Musicians through the National Piano Guild Auditions, he performed an International Program in 2005 and was awarded a High School Diploma from the Guild. He has also served as the keyboardist for the University of Colorado Orchestra, Colorado Wind Ensemble, the Baldwin-Wallace College Symphonic Wind Ensemble and l(a Contemporary Ensemble and is active as a classical/vocal accompanist as well as a jazz pianist. His piano teachers include Barbara Jones and Robert Mayerovitch.

 www.keanesouthard.blogspot.com