UMS works together with community members to share personal stories which connect them to our performances on our blog UMSLobby.org.

Do you have a story to tell about why a 2013-2014 season performance, artist, or experience is important to you?  Get in touch at ums-lobby@umich.edu with your idea.

We can’t wait to hear from you! Do you have questions or comments? Share them below.

We love Amber’s story about her experience in a UMS master class with Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan. Amber will dance with Cloud Gate as part of her Fulbright scholarship. Learn more about UMS student programs.

Next season, UMS is launching a set of new programs for both dance enthusiasts and audience members who are curious and want to learn more about dance. Would you like to know more about these programs? Fill out the form below, and we’ll be in touch over the summer.

Have questions? Ask us in the comments below.

Meet Howard White, the composer behind the documentary celebrating the 100 years of Hill Auditorium: A Space for Music, A Seat for Everyone, the UMS documentary about our community over 100 years of UMS performances in Hill Auditorium. The documentary will screen on Detroit Public Television (DPTV) on May 19, 2013 at 5 pm.

Photo: Howard White

An influential film score composer, particularly for documentaries, Howard White has lived in the Ann Arbor area for many years and is also the owner of The Omni Media Group. UMS’s own video producer and editor Sophie Kruz, the director of A Space for Music, A Seat for Everyone, sat down with Howard to discuss the process of scoring Hill Auditorium’s rich one hundred-year history.

Sophie Kruz: Can you talk a little bit about your background and how you got involved in this project?

Howard White: I’ve been in the music world for many decades. I’ve been doing composition in Ann Arbor for many years, and the last ten years, I have been focusing on film scores for narrative pieces and documentaries especially. That’s how we found each other, through a mutual acquaintance, Chris Cook, who is a really wonderful filmmaker in town. I’ve done maybe a dozen films for him. Being chosen for this project was a nice affirmation of years of work — learning the skills and building the repertoire — so that was very nice, for me to have the opportunity.

SK: What was the first film or TV show that you scored?

Howard White: It was pretty random, and it was a long time ago. I was just starting out in the music world, actually as a performer, producer, musician, and just starting my studio in Ann Arbor when somebody came to me from the art school of all places, asking me to make some music for a film for a master’s thesis. So I said, of course, not knowing anything about what they wanted or how to do it or what was needed. I wrote some songs and did some scoring, but back then, we didn’t have the tools like we have now.

SK: What are the tools you use to do the composition and the recording?

Howard White: In this industry, technology doesn’t drive innovation, but innovation drives technology. Maybe twenty years ago, we just used a multi-track instrumental tool, whereas now we have thousands of instrument samples at our disposal. Before synthesizers, you had a dedicated sample for every note that was hard-coded onto a chip that was embedded right in the hardware of the synthesizer. But now, with high speed processors and hard drives, you are able to store samples.

I’ve been evolving my sample library over the past ten years. To give you a size perspective, I have about a 40 GB string [instruments] library, and it’s just strings. It was recorded on a sound stage in Los Angeles by string players and an orchestra that normally scores film on that stage. There are other libraries out there that are more symphonic that are built for just big sounds, but mine was specifically developed for film scores so it has a nice bright notes and it’s not too big.

The library gives you every articulation, staccato, or sound, so it takes a lot of time to get the precision and the expression. The whole goal is to bring realism to a performance that is really electronic. As much as I would have loved to have scored this with a live orchestra, that’s just impossible these days — only the biggest films do that.

SK: What’s your process for composing? Do you write everything out and then start to record it electronically, or do you compose with a piano?

Howard White: Yes, it’s all piano triggered. I have a large controller keyboard, and it reaches out and grabs sound samples from my many libraries. With our project, I was able to look at the film and get a sense of what you needed, and then sketch out some ideas, and then keep developing and polishing and adding and subtracting from those ideas. Sometimes the idea would be there instantly, sometimes it would take days. I’d start 40 or 50 different pieces before I came up with the one that I sent to you.

SK: What research did you have to do to ground the film sonically to the community of Ann Arbor and Hill Auditorium over the last 100 years?

Howard White: I could search for musical inspiration pretty smoothly from sources as simple as iTunes to more obscure sources like the Library of Congress. I moved chronologically, decade by decade, going through the 100-year history of music I was working to encapsulate. I started in the 1920s, with the ragtime feeling, and then moved to the 30s for a mellower, jazzier sound. I started going down those paths and did some complete pieces, but I realized they weren’t working. The music was fine, but it didn’t match the picture. I could research and develop as much as I want to, but just because the period is correct doesn’t mean it works with the film. I ended up going a more classical, European-inspired route on a particular piece accompanying the story of Rosa Ponselle, and I think it worked really well.

There is a balance between what the music has to say and the story line. For example, when the Frieze Memorial Organ is introduced in the film, I thought it would be really nice to have an organ playing; it’s a little obvious, but sort of appropriate. The organ music that was most commonly played then was certainly Bach, and so I researched numerous inventions that he had done and found one that was lively but not too dramatic. I didn’t quote it exactly, but I used it as an inspiration for the piece.

When we got to the 1960s, I was able to bring in more rock and jazz music, which is closer to my background. I have studied and played classical guitar, but I also play solo piano with a more improvisational jazz style. I was struggling with this 60s piece, so I pulled out my steel-string guitar, because that’s a 60s folk style sound, and the piece just developed from there. When you have Merce Cunningham and John Cage on the screen, I moved to something more edgy and dissonant, but still with the folksy Latin style on top of it.

There was certainly no apprehension about creating this music, but I had to take a deep breath because this was going to be music for music lovers. It had to be up a notch in terms of intelligence and musicality because of the film’s audience.

SK: What are some of the similarities and differences between composing for film and composing for a group?

Howard White: I really like film composing because I’m a visual person. My whole business is interactive design and development, which is why working with music and visuals is a really satisfying melding of the two interests and skill sets. I love just playing and writing. Writing for film is really a special feeling. On one hand, you have the challenge of really amplifying the film and being in concert with the producer, directors of the film, versus when you’re writing music to be out there, then it’s only music. I focus mostly on film scores because that’s just so much more exciting and interesting for me, to work in that medium.

SK: If you were speaking to a young person who was interested in composing original scores for film or television, what advice would you offer them?

Howard White: I started in this business by building up a recording studio with a buddy of mine and working in Ann Arbor doing production for a lot of local bands. After we were done with the gigs, we’d go off and record commercials off the TV, turn off the sound, and score them ourselves. We made a reel and we’d go knock on the doors of producers and ad agencies asking for a chance, showing them what we could do.

My suggestion is to hook up with film makers and art students and anybody who’s doing visual production and do music for them, just collaborate. It’s really a networking world, but that’s all it is. If you have a good ear and you have a good skill set, you’ll make those connections. The key is to find people you need to find to be able to do the work.

Earlier in my career, I spent some time on the west coast to be more embedded in the music world. It was a good location because in big cities like LA, there are more opportunities for networking. There’s a lot you can do: sampling, sample playback, sample editing, and sound design. All of that is different from composing, but there’s a great market out there for sound designers. If you want to compose, you really have to know your theory and harmony, and you have to have a really good ear. You have to make orchestral decisions that make sense and work with the film and your audience. So there are a lot of subtleties and nuances to it that you need to study and just listen. I listen to film scores constantly, just to see what they are doing, why they’re doing it, and how they’re doing it to be able to have that background.

The opportunity to do this film was really special for me and I do absolutely want to thank you, Sophie, and UMS for trusting me to do the film. To hear the music in that beautiful auditorium and to know that it was embedded in a part of UMS history is really a personal thrill for me, and a very high point on my composition career at this point.

Interested in learning more? Listen to the complete interview:

Our TalkOut project for K-12 students involves speaking and listening (two core K-12 learning competencies) and creating a sharing ripple that allows the experience of a UMS School Day Performance to live on in the minds and hearts of young people and that helps students make connections between the arts on stage and their classroom.

This “TRIMTAB” pilot project was developed with guidance from Eric Booth at the Kennedy Center Partners in Education Program’s February 2013 Annual Meeting by the Michigan 1997 Team: Ann Arbor Public Schools (Robin Bailey), UMS (Jim Leija and Omari Rush), and the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (Jennifer Scott-Burton).

TalkOut encompasses the entire UMS School Day Performance experience. Prior to the start of the show an onstage host provides the entire audience with a framing question. At the end of the performance, two students (selected by UMS and school teachers pre-performance) are invited on stage to share their thoughts and ideas with the entire audience. The feedback is immediately celebrated, captured with photos and audio, and passed on to others for shared reflection.

Here, Kai, a fourth grade student at Ann Arbor’s Pattengill Elementary School, participates in TalkOut at the Ragamala Dance School Day Performance (interviewed on stage by UMS’s Jim Leija):

Interested in learning more? Download the TalkOut Project Description [PDF]

Tell us what you thought! This is the place to comment on the performance and talk to other people about what you saw and heard. Don’t forget to click the option to be notified when new comments are posted.

Tell us what you thought! This is the place to comment on the performance and talk to other people about what you saw and heard. Don’t forget to click the option to be notified when new comments are posted.

Our Choral Union series usher crew at the final Choral Union performance of 2012-2013. Learn more about becoming an usher at our performances here.

Meet the participants.

UMS: Tell us a little about you.

Sydney Hawkins: I am the new Communications Marketing Manager at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Professionally, I have a background in radio and digital marketing. Personally, I love road tripping, coffee drinking, music making, ice creaming, fun running, skydiving, and trying new things. I’ll be tweeting from @ummamuseum (I moonlight at @sydneyhawkins when I flip handles).

Angela Elkordy: I am an educational technologist; my passions are instructional technologies, teaching, learning and leading (K-20) as well as connecting with others through technology.

Megan Pfiester: Since a very young age I have been fascinated by all things musical whether it be Beethoven or the Beatles. I work as a communications coordinator and create as much music as possible all day every day. I am currently a member of the Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra and hope to study violin performance and music education in the fall. You can find me at @MusiGeek on Twitter.

Jared Rawlings: I am a process-centered innovative teacher, and an emerging researcher. I tweet @Jared_Rawlings and my website is: www.jaredrawlings.com.

Cody Takacs: I am a recent graduate of the School of Music earning my BM in Double Bass Performance. I appear frequently as a soloist specializing in new music with performances ranging from the University of Michigan’s Collage Concert to Carnegie Hall. As an educator, I have been the double bass instructor for Skyline High School’s orchestra and chamber music coach for Michigan Bass Bash.

UMS: In one sentence, how would you describe your relationship with technology?

Sydney Hawkins: My relationship with technology is pretty balanced – it keeps me connected, but I don’t let myself disconnect from what is happening around me.

Angela Elkordy: Connected!

Megan Pfiester: I would say I’m pretty tech-savvy.

Cody Takacs: I use technology to build and maintain a strong musical network and also to share and express my musical ideas.

Jared Rawlings: My relationship with technology is necessary in order to build my personal/professional learning network.

UMS: To you, what does it mean to “be present” during a performance or another arts experience?

Sydney Hawkins: To me, to be present is to have the ability to clear your mind and ‘check out’ of the real world when you enter through the doors – it is an opportunity to relax, to recharge, and to get inspired.

Angela Elkordy: Being present, to me, means being immersed in the experience and making meaning by sharing the experience with others.

Megan Pfiester: Being present during a performance is so much more than simply taking a seat in a hall or an auditorium. To me it’s blissfully leaving whatever happened that day at the curb and not only listening to someone else’s creation and ideas. It’s taking it all in, sight sound and smell, and letting it stir your imagination.

Cody Takacs:  To be “present” at a performance to me means 1) that the listener is physically present and 2) that they are mentally experiencing the performance on one or a combination of any of Aaron Copland’s three planes of listening that find best suiting for their own listening experience (the sensual, expressive, and sheerly musical planes).

Jared Rawlings: Being present means it’s a way of capturing the “lived experience” of the concert goer.  Also, given the temporal nature of music, theatre, and dance the tweet seats project is a way of focusing in on this phenomenon that is exclusive to live arts in Ann Arbor.

Meet the tweets.

After the performance

UMS: How did tweeting affect your experience of the performance?

Sydney Hawkins: It made me ‘think’ about the performance in more of a conceptual way – how can I articulate what I’m seeing/hearing to someone who isn’t here? How can I describe this in words? Is there a way for me to educate or inspire people who aren’t here? As I was tweeting from the @ummamuseum handle, I was also thinking about ways that I could relate and connect the performance to the museum (which is something that I’d definitely do a bit more research on prior to the performance next time).

Angela Elkordy: In sharing the experience in real-time, I was more conscious of trying to communicate what I thought would be of interest to others who were not at the concert. It was really interesting to read the tweets of others experiencing the same event…. and hence tweeting provides a unique experience for participants who can share as the event is on-going. How else could that be accomplished? and how powerful is that?

Jared Rawlings: I was more aware of the people around me. More specifically, I was looking for audience body language, facial animation, and vocal reaction when audible. I tried to be a thorough “twitter correspondent” and with Ms. Balsom’s performance, I had to remind myself to tweet. She was absolutely captivating.

UMS: Did you expect this effect or are you surprised by this outcome?

Sydney Hawkins: I think that I learned quite a bit from the performance because I was actively watching/listening for things about it in which I could relay to others. I was also following the hashtag to see what other people in the tweet seats were saying about it too – it was a way of having a conversation without talking. I wasn’t completely surprised by this outcome – there are many conferences or lectures that I’ve been to that offer hashtags and I believe that it makes people pay attention and try to relay the important parts of the conversation. It provides for a more attentive audience.

Angela Elkordy: I usually share snippets of information while attending events, but in being part of a group tweeting was a great experience. I think we all wonder on some level how others experience things and the tweeting together made the event more social without being imposing. Yes, this was a pleasant surprise

Jared Rawlings: I was much more interested in the audience’s reaction of the performance. I could not believe the number of people who were there to see a trumpet performer. The upper balcony was almost full. I did not expect this outcome.

Are you interested in joining our tweet seats section? Sign up & we’ll let you what’s coming in the 2013-2014 season.