Born in 1996, American born composer, conductor, and pianist, Kevin Day, has begun to take the musical world by storm. Writing compositions for the wind band, orchestra, solo instrumental, chamber, and choral medium, Day has already written over 200 compositions. It is no surprise to see Day’s passion for music seeing the household he was raised in. His father was a prominent hip-hop producer in southern California during the late 80’s and early 90’s, while his mother was a very successful Gospel singer from West Virginia. Influences throughout his life has led his musical styles to a combination of multiple idioms. Day’s biography on his website says, “…music often intersects between the worlds of jazz, minimalism, Latin music, fusion, and contemporary classical idioms."
Day’s music has been performed in seven countries and by some of the world’s best ensembles, such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and the “President’s Own” United States Marine Band. From a compositional aspect, Day has been mentored by many composers including Gabriela Lena Frank, Frank Ticheli, John Mackey, Julie Giroux, and many others.
Day is currently pursuing his DMA in Composition, while also taking lessons in jazz piano, at the University of Miami - Frost School of Music. Day holds a MM in Composition from the University of Georgia and a bachelor’s degree in Music Performance (Euphonium) from Texas Christian University.
The piece I specifically want to look into a little deeper is Day’s Concerto for Euphonium and Wind Ensemble. The completed in 2018 and premiered by international soloist, Demondrae Thurman, in 2019. The composition is in three movements entitled, Machine, Feeling, and Paradox. The best description of the piece is in a conversation between Day and a colleague Byron Myles notated in the pieces program notes, “Kevin called me with his plot for what this piece is about. He explained that the first movement, Machine, is based on the machine sounds. The second movement Feeling is based on this machine developing human emotions and experiencing what it is like to feel on the level that we as humans do. The last movement, Paradox, is the embodiment of the internal conflict that presents itself as the machine battles what it is versus what it feels.”
Below is a clip that seemed to go viral on all social media platforms of Demondrae Thurman playing the last minute of Day Concerto. https://www.facebook.com/demondrae/videos/10107269684600855
Here is a recording of the entire piece performed by Gunnery Sergeant Hiram Diaz of the “President’s Own” US Marine Band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL74_86dVIE
Isaac Slavens
What an interesting idea for a composition! This concerto is very "traditional" in the sense that it uses a lot of tonality, traditional melodies and accompaniment, and a traditional concerto movement format. However, I can hear a lot of the more "modern" influences that make their way into this music as well - machine-like rhythms, movie soundtrack style, etc. What I find fascinating is that he takes traditional ideas and puts a new narrative on top of it with the idea of a machine having a self-aware or humanizing experience.
ReplyDeleteHi Issac!
ReplyDeleteThank you for introducing us to Kevin's music. I've been seeing more and more of his music performed by Wind Bands as of late, and I am glad to see the young composer gain deserved recognition. I haven't heard many Euphonium concerti, but I can easily see the Day becoming a popular member of the canon. I hope to hear the full accompaniment version!
-Bryce Newcomer
I'm pretty floored actually that someone so young & around our age has done SO much work. He's worked with pretty much all the names we know and (usually) hold as "have made it." Truly impressive - will be checking out his music too!
ReplyDeleteJO
Hey, Isaac. This piece is really great! The idea of the differences between men and machines has always been really interesting to me. It's really awesome to see a composer explore this through their music. I am not very familiar with the euphonium, but I get the impression this is very difficult to perform. The runs at the end of the last movement sound virtuosic. Thank you for sharing! -- Noah Ward
ReplyDeleteHi, Isaac. It is very impressed that the composer wrote music over 200 even though he is young. And the attached two music require a lot of techniques and efforts for the performer because of the big scale. Thanks for sharing music and your blog. - Haksung Lee
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this with us!
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by Demondrae Thurman's technique and by Day's creative ideas! It seems to be so hard to play!
Diana C
DeleteHi Isaac! I love that you shared a composer who is really just starting out on his career. It's crazy that he is around our age and has already done so much, but I am looking forward to seeing his career grow and am excited to watch out for new works by him.
ReplyDeleteLianna
I know others have said this already, but it's so wild to see someone so young who's already seen as much success as Kevin Day! I can see why that's the case, though - that concerto you highlight is really something! I didn't know the euphonium could sound like that.
ReplyDelete- Cameron
Hi Isaac! I appreciate you for introducing me to Kevin Days music. I loved listening to his concerto and it was insane that he wrote that for euphonium. I'm eager to check more of his works out. Thank you for sharing! - Lydia Young
ReplyDeleteI had always heard good things about Kevin Day, but never actually sat down and listened to it. Wow! The music is gorgeous and arguably transformative in that sense that it does a great job of culminating multiple different styles into one gorgeous composition. Thank you for sharing, I will definitely be listening to more of his works. -Zack T
ReplyDelete