Dr. Matthew McConnell is a winner of the 2014 Black House/Maroon Trio Competition.
How would you describe your work?
Stylistically, I’m all over the map. It’s my opinion that many established composers are afraid of being thought of as inconsistent, once they have perfected working with a specific series of procedures, and I hear them writing the same pieces, as it were, over and over again. There’s a fear of experimentation, a fear of branching out. I believe one’s personal “voice” always shines through the music, no matter in what style it is composed. I’ve written a lot of thorny, atonal music for various ensembles, while simultaneously writing more-or-less conventional music for choir. I’ve recently been writing modal pieces for organ, while sketching organ works filled with chromatic clusters and 12-tone techniques. Composers tend to focus primarily on the compositional tools and systems used to communicate their musical ideas, but there’s a much broader element that’s rarely considered, and that is musical style. A chosen musical style is also a compositional element; it’s the main part of the vehicle that carries the other tools along, allowing them to work. Mozart prided himself on being able to write so well in numerous styles that he could fool experts. If Mozart did it, why shouldn’t we?
What interested you about writing for the Maroon Trio?
The unusual instrumentation was what first interested me. This is not a “common” trio, so extra attention must be paid to the interplay of timbres, not just notes. I have a history of writing for uncommon musical instruments (toy piano, in particular), and was inspired by this new, novel ensemble.
How are you addressing writing for such an unusual instrumentation?
Each instrument suggests its own material; in other words, sonic gestures that are idiomatic. Because each instrument, in this case, has such a unique timbre, combining these “sonic fingerprints” in interesting and effective ways, allowing them to trade rolls, and creating good balance is the challenge. At the moment, what I’m writing allows each instrument to be an active participant in the ensemble. No instrument is assigned a mere “accompanimental” role throughout the piece. Instruments weave in and out of prominence, carrying, then supporting main lines.
What are you most excited about in the piece you're writing for the Maroon Trio?
The piece utilizes a rondo form; a main theme keeps returning at various intervals, but ever-new excursions occur between its statements. This allows for much exploration and fantasy, while also providing the trio (and listeners!) with sonic guideposts for orientation. In particular, I am amused by how the piece is following the format of many of my composition notebooks; for example, in a notebook you might find a harmonized chorale written above a 12-tone sketch. Underneath that, you may see some harmony exercises, and on the next page there may be some third species counterpoint! This piece, like one of my notebooks, is filled with the juxtaposition of triads, non-total material, synthetic scales, and so on. When some of my notebook “exercises” appear in the piece, they are often presented in a comical manner. It’s very much like one of my notebooks is poking fun at itself, yet all the music is related!
Your work will be performed in Kansas City. What impressions, if any, do you have about new music in the midwestern United States?
I actually do not know much about the new music scene in the Midwestern U.S. The majority of my recent performances have been overseas. I have wanted my works to find a more substantial American reception; location is not of prime importance. The way the internet has brought diverse musicians together is a godsend for the future of new music. Still, it’s nice to be recognized in my own country! I thank the Black House Collective and Maroon Trio for this opportunity.
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Dr. Matthew McConnell holds a B.A. degree in Music from Bennington College, a M.M. degree in Musical Composition with Distinction in Performance (and Academic Honors) from the New England Conservatory of Music, as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) degree from the same institution. His principal composition instructors include Stephen Siegel, Allen Shawn, John Heiss, and Hollywood film orchestrator Erik Lundborg. McConnell studied organ with Dr. Dwight Killam, and piano performance with Ann Cain, Jane Jenkins, and John Van Buskirk. He also studied alto saxophone with Roger LaRocca and Raymond Willard, baritone sax with Carl Jenkins, conducting with Janet McGhee, sacred music with Daniel Pinkham, and algorithmic composition with Paul Burdick. He is a member of ASCAP and the AGO.
McConnell collaborated with organists Kent Tritle and Nancianne Parella at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in New York City and has worked with the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space Concert Series in New York. He has been a guest organist with the Berkshire Lyric Theatre Choir and has premiered original works with Kathy Andrew (former violinist for Eric Clapton.) McConnell co-founded The Toyland Band, a Boston-based award-winning instrumental ensemble which specializes in performing arrangements of classical and popular music for children on over 28 diverse toy instruments. Matthew is the former Musical Director of the Drury Drama Team, and composed music for the International Thespian Festival held in Lincoln, Nebraska. He performed many concerts at Bennington College, and throughout Boston, and was the principal organist at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Chapel in North Adams, MA for seven years.
McConnell is a former organist and choir director of the First Baptist Church in Cheshire, MA, has been a guest organist at numerous churches throughout Massachusetts, has been featured in the First United Methodist Church “Summer Organ Sounds” concert series, and presents regular benefit concerts at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Chapel in North Adams, MA. He is the former Minister of Music at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church (Malden, MA), All Saints’ Episcopal Church (North Adams, MA), and the current Minister of Music at the First Baptist Church of North Adams. Dr. McConnell was also a Teaching Fellow at the New England Conservatory of Music. In addition to teaching composition, piano, organ, orchestration, keyboard harmony and music theory, McConnell is a Schillinger scholar and teaches The Schillinger System of Musical Composition to students in Berkshire County. He is also a professional Composer Mentor with Music-COMP (formerly the Vermont MIDI Project).
Dr. McConnell received the Aaron Copland scholarship to attend The Conducting Institute’s Composer/Conductor Program at Bard College. His numerous compositions include symphonic works, concerti, choral pieces, incidental music for plays and various events, song cycles, etc. His choral music publisher is E.C. Schirmer, and his digital music distributer is NewMusicShelf.com. Dr. McConnell is particularly fond of his Concerto for Toy Piano and Orchestra, commissioned by Keith Kirchoff, which received a standing ovation at its premiere in Boston in May of 2004. In the words of toy pianist Margaret Leng Tan, “It is delightfully convincing and well orchestrated so the toy piano can emerge as soloist.”
