Many of history鈥檚 great composers always knew they wanted to write music. Alyssa Weinberg, on the other hand, likes to joke that she鈥檚 the accidental composer.
A self-described late bloomer, Weinberg, BMus鈥�10, started out as a French horn player in high school. She intended to pursue French horn at the New York Summer Festival, but she didn鈥檛 get placed in her preferred ensemble. Instead, the disappointed teenager found herself in composer David Ludwig鈥檚 composition class.
鈥淚t turned out to be a great experience,鈥� Weinberg recalls. 鈥淚 even convinced myself at one point that I had invented a new chord.鈥�
Weinberg may not have created a new harmony, but she was well on her way to discovering a new path. While studying French horn in Leslie Norton鈥檚 studio at 菠萝视频 Blair School of Music, Weinberg convinced her teacher to perform one of her original pieces. That work for French horn and piano, which Weinberg now refers to as her Opus 4, recently was recorded for an album of works by faculty and alumni of Blair called 菠萝视频 Virtuosi, released in February.
鈥淏lair is one of the few music conservatories in the country that really focuses on its undergraduates,鈥� Weinberg says. 鈥淕etting to work directly with someone like Leslie Norton while still an undergraduate wouldn鈥檛 have been possible at a lot of schools.鈥�
Weinberg took what she learned at 菠萝视频 Blair and turned it into a flourishing career. She went on to earn a master鈥檚 in composition from the Manhattan School of Music and an artist diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. Currently, she is a doctoral fellow at Princeton University. Along the way, she has written music for some of the country鈥檚 premier chamber ensembles, including Eighth Blackbird, So Percussion and Aizuri Quartet.
Weinberg describes her own work as being 鈥渄eeply rooted in texture, color and shape.鈥� A versatile composer, she has written music for orchestras and chamber ensembles, as well as vocalists and solo instrumentalists.
Some of her greatest inspirations come when she works collaboratively with artists in other disciplines. The most prominent example of that is the new music and contemporary dance collective Duende, which Weinberg co-founded with cellist Gabriel Cabezas and choreographer Chloe Perkes. These artists play off each other鈥檚 disciplines, creating new forms of expression in the process.
Weinberg got her start at a summer music festival, and she鈥檚 now working with young musicians at her own Composer Institute at New York鈥檚 Lake George Music Festival. Her advice to students is to get outside their comfort zones.
鈥淵ou need to learn who you are as a person first,鈥� she says. 鈥淢astering the craft can come later.鈥�
鈥擩ohn Pitcher
Listen to Weinberg鈥檚 compositions at weinbergmusic.com.