"We have had student composers perform their work before, but usually as a part of a bigger concert. I do not recall a student composers recital ever being held, largely because we never had more than one or two students composing at any one time," Duane Schroeder, director of news and sports information, said.

Matthew Armstrong, composer-in-residence, has supervised all of the composers for independent studies in composition.

"This is like a final presentation," Armstrong said. "They're actually going to get to see it come to life. Some of them have been finding that what works out on paper does not play out in rehearsal."

Brobston said he has experienced this dilemma when he tried to recruit singers for his choral work "Anthem for Doomed Youth." The anthem for SSAATTBB a cappella choir incorporates eight-part splits, mixed meter and challenging vocal ranges set to a poem by Wilfred Owen.

"People looking at the score didn't understand the aleatoric section," Brobston said. "It's not as bad or as high as everyone thinks it is."

Brobston composed the piece with a large concert choir in mind.

"The image I had in my head was the Wartburg Choir, knowing that they could do it," Brobston said. "The biggest problem is time commitment and making contacts."

"Due to lack of personnel, we will not be performing "Anthem for Doomed Youth" ... I have to do some composition recitals of my own later, and it could make it onto one of those, at least theoretically."

Brobston's piece for baritone, trumpet and piano, "Praise the Lord," will be performed.

The other four composers who have featured works at FridayÕ's recital have recruited peers to assist them in performance. The ensembles include singers, percussionists, pianists and brass combinations. Armstrong said the styles of the compositions vary greatly.

"I think it's the gamut of everything," Armstrong said. "I applaud them tremendously ... they're driven; they see how they're going to benefit from this, personally and professionally."

"I would like for students on this campus to see what a senior in college, age 22, can create. The creative process is a vital thing for us. We all need to discover that creative spark in ourselves."

The student performers have had a chance to discover the challenges and joys associated with new music in rehearsal. Senior Jason Grunklee is performing in Greubel's and Schardt's ensembles.

"It's been fun to find out what people are thinking about musically," Grunklee said. "Josh's piece has a much more somber attitude, while Graham's Christian piece is very upbeat. I'm excited [about Friday's recital]. It's something this school should have done years ago, and I hope it's a tradition that'll catch on and influence more people to begin writing."

Senior Aaron Strumpel, who will play trumpet in Schardt's quintet, said, "it's fun to rehearse others' pieces because they never quite get what they have in their head to the paper, and they always have to tell or demonstrate exactly what they want."

Junior Nicole Young is performing in Neve's choral ensemble.

"I think her piece is beautiful, and I plan to use it someday with one of my choirs-it will be neat to say one of my friends from college wrote the piece. It is difficult to compose choral pieces, because you have to know the range of each part and be aware if that part can sing that high/low. I'm very excited for the recital. It gives students the chance to show off a hidden talent. Hopefully this will become an annual event."

Armstrong said the possibility of an annual composer's recital becoming a tradition will depend on student interest. Student composers had to submit their compositions by December 10, 1999. All the compositions had to be produced using composition software, meet copyright standards, and be performed and approved at preview performances in January, 2000.

"I wanted it to be an intellectual exercise in the process of how does one go about composing," Armstrong said.

Armstrong said Wartburg offers music software for students to use, but "we're not teaching how to use it."

"All of us use Finale, and we're all still learning how to write the stuff in our spare time," Greubel said. "There's not a writing course offered."

Armstrong said that if interest in composing continues to grow at Wartburg, the students may demand a composition course.

Hometown: Grand Mound, Iowa

Activities: Wind Ensemble, Knightlighters Jazz Band, Ninth Street Jazz Co-Director, KWAR Music Director

Recital pieces: Moods, for solo marimba.

"Moods is a piece inspired by everyday life. The different movements represent different moods or states of mind that people encounter on a daily basis. The first movement depicts a state of eager "busy-ness". The second movement, marked "Adagio, Rubato," is a short burst of tears and heartfelt emotion. The final movement is a compendium of different moods in which contrasting techniques and articulations emote a state of almost frenzied agility."

"I'm only performing movements two and three. I wrote the third movement and then added two and one. I wrote it backwards and I'm not pleased with number one. There's a chunk of motive that appears in different ways throughout the whole thing and the first movement didn't have that. I'm revamping it ... I stood at the marimba and worked it out there; because I had the actual instrument in front of me I could see how it worked. It's harder to visualize band stuff; I sit at Finale and do that."

Bierman said he wrote the third movement in three days and the second movement in three months.

Performers: Bierman.

Composer bio: "I started composing about a year ago. I was sitting in music history class and a part of a theme hit me from nowhere and I just had to write it down to see what happened-no real goals, no inspiration, just an experiment. It eventually became whole band piece, and it didn't work out at all. I started transcribing and arranging for mallets; some of them have been performed on and off campus. This summer I started my marimba solo. I'm working on a string quartet piece with a soprano for a wedding."

Influences: "My independent study last semester forced me to look back at what I've written and explain why and how I chose the styles and forms. It was good to have somebody [Armstrong] who's been there help someone who's never been there."

Future plans: Bierman plans to attend the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley to study music theory and composition. "My plans are to write straight compositions of band works, percussion solos and ensembles." Bierman also plans to submit Moods for publication. He will perform the work again at his senior recital March 25 in Orchestra Hall in the Fine Arts Center.

Hometown: Knoxville, Iowa

Activities: Wind Ensemble, Knightlighters Jazz Band, Symphonic Band (in the past)

Recital pieces: Praise the Lord! for baritone voice, trumpet and piano, from a song cycle With Trumpet Sound ."Praise the Lord is the last piece; the rest of the cycle is started, but unfinished. [It's based on] various biblical texts (Psalm 150) that refer to trumpet."

Performers: Sophomore J.P. Wagner; senior Brian Cole; and junior Valerie Hulstein

Composer bio: "I started composing before I did any formal coursework. My first piece was for sax, trumpet and piano." Brobston and wife Melissa performed the piece, entitled Tales, at a joint recital in the music department.

Influences: Brobston studied composition independently with Dr. Marc Weber of Iowa Creative Music, Waterloo, Iowa.

Future plans: "I might pursue graduate study [in composition], but performance is more likely. I'll arrange for Melissa's (his wife's) high school band. It's a useful skill that I might do on the side to make some money." Brobston has no immediate plans to submit his piece for publication.

Hometown: Columbia, Iowa

Activities: Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Pep Band, Knightlighters Jazz Band, Ninth Street Jazz Co-Director, Tuba Quartet

Recital pieces: Disillusion, for tuba quartet, percussion and organ

"It's a programmatic piece; it's a death march, and you should be able to hear it. I wrote it this summer for Holocaust class as my final project. Katie Peterson (senior) found the melody line (Ani Ma-amin) in a death camp song. [This melody] appears in the top euphonium part. It'll be freaky; there's harsh chords and lots of tension and resolution. It was 24 bars for class, it's 100 bars now. It was originally written for full brass and percussion; Val (organist) is acting as brass due to time constraints."

Performers: Seniors Josh Greubel, Heather Tuttle, Duane Bierman, juniors Christine Meyer and Harry Bird III, sophomore Mike Moeller, freshmen Jill Gjerde and Ryan Catterton.

Composer bio: Greubel has arranged many works for small ensembles, including Birdland and Pachelbel's Canon in D. He also has studied jazz arranging with Dr. Eric Wachmann, assistant professor of music.

Influences: Gabrielli, Wagner, and Pachelbel.

Future plans: Greubel said he'll use his composing skills to arrange pieces for bands and different ensembles when he starts teaching. He said he is not and does not plan to make any money from his compositions.

Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa

Activities: Wind Ensemble, Castle Singers, Vision, Alpha Chi

Recital pieces: Air from Suite No. 3 by J.S. Bach (arranged by Neve) for flute quartet

"I embellished it and added a few harmonic differences," Neve said.

The Blessing for SATB voices' I wrote it last May in Denver. I wanted to write something that talks about leaving and how to say goodbye. There's a reassurance, especially in the Christian community and you know God is watching the two of you. I used it at Okoboji Lutheran Bible camp, because the kids leave every week. At camp, you can't be complicated, so I revamped the voice and piano parts It’s also an appropriate song being a senior; I'm leaving."

Performers: Silver (flute quartet): alumna Jen Vick, seniors Amber Ihm, Neve, and Nicole Prevenas

Vocalists: Seniors Heather Kuennen, Katie Peterson, Kevin Hart, Josh Brecht; juniors Amity Lee, Nicole Young, Nick Robertson, Ben LeClair, Joel Kiesey, Dane Wesenberg, Becca Martin; and freshman Ben Talcott.

"When you perform, the goal is to make the music have personal meaning for you, to convey a message, and be true to the composer's intentions. The cool thing about a composer's recital is you get to try to create exactly what you want to happen. All the music they're listening to will be straight out of the minds of their fellow students; it's part of who they are."

Composer bio: "I started writing songs in sixth grade ... seriously I started in high school, and in college I struggle with writing out all the sheet music. It's great if you want your song to be used by more than just you, but I would just rather perform it. It's hard to articulate exactly what you want on paper. I'd rather just show someone."

Influences: "I really respect the Beatles and Beethoven, Chris Rice and Ginney Owens, Wayne Kirkpatick, John Williams, Margaret Becker and Bach; the breadth of his literature and widespread influence, how he combines technique and emotion to create certain moods and effects. It's so hard to play, it's amazing."

Future plans: Regardless of where my career takes me [composing will] always be a part of my life even if no one else wants to listen to my music. I'd love to learn and perfect the art of songwriting. I have dreams of being published and that other people will find meaning in your songs ... to express who I am through song is really where it's all at."

Hometown: Dubuque, Iowa

Activities: Wind Ensemble, Vision, and "planning my wedding with Mindy Van Cleave."

Recital pieces: Lasting Hope for brass quintet

"The thematic material came to me about two years ago. Sitting at the piano I came up with a little theme, a progression. I never did anything about it until this summer. I had some extra time at home ... I decided to put it together for brass quintet. I've always wanted to write something for instruments to play. Originally, I called it Last Hope. It's in a minor key until the last chord-there's still one last hope for this piece for those of you who think minor keys are sad. Last Hope seems so morbid, so adding the "ing" on it seemed to change the whole idea of the title. I rely on things in my life to keep me going; God is my lasting hope."

Performers: Seniors Schardt, Aaron Strumpel, Jason Grunklee; juniors Harry Bird III, Nicole Fuchsen.

Composer bio: Schardt started composing in high school, but said "no one really helped me. I would get ideas in my head and just let them go. I'm finally getting some training (with Armstrong). He's helped me with formatting, making the music look nice, and he's helped me clean up music things, making sure my ideas are clearly stated in the music. He's forced me to be confident and consistent with the ideas I get."

Influences: "My dad arranged hymns for brass; we've worked together a couple times. He's done most of the work and I refine it."

Future plans: Schardt plans to pursue a teaching career in elementary music. "I would like people to think about how music as a profession, performance or teaching, combines an art and an academic demand. You not only need the knowledge, but the ability and discipline to participate. It can be competitive as well. You're expected to be proficient at what you do."