Carlos Arellano, a graduate student in Theory and Composition at The University of New Mexico, recently premiered his musical composition at the 2024 Orchestrating for the 21st Century Workshop. This event was part of the Water Music New York: More Voices festival organized by the Albany Symphony from June 4 to 9.
The festival featured workshop sessions, master classes, reading sessions, and concerts. It aimed to equip students with tools for observing, analyzing, and applying orchestration concepts. Composer Christopher Theofanidis taught the course, which selected ten students from prestigious universities across the United States. During this event, Arellano debuted his piece "The Flight of the Phoenix."
Arellano, originally from Mexico, is focused on composition at UNM. “I play guitar, but my major at UNM is composition. I like to write for any instrument,” he said.
"The Flight of the Phoenix" is a five-minute piece composed for eleven orchestral instruments. Members of the Albany Symphony performed and recorded Arellano’s work under conductor David Alan Miller as part of the workshop activities.
In masterclasses during the workshop, each student presented an original piece followed by feedback from both professors and peers. Three reading sessions with the Albany Symphony were conducted where each student wrote a five-minute piece that was then played by the orchestra. Musicians and conductors provided comments on structure and technique.
“It was a reading session to record the piece. The experience was exciting but implied a lot of responsibility because of the level of musicians and students,” Arellano stated.
Describing his style as Contemporary Classical Music, Arellano elaborated on his composition process: “The piece creates compound melodies in different dimensions based on impulses, attacks and their resulting echoes.” Reflecting on his academic journey at UNM, he added: “My experience as a graduate music student at UNM is enriching. I have been learning a lot not only about music but also about other cultures and ways of thinking.”
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