2021 WINTER NEWSLETTER: Khoa Sands - Semifinalist for The American Prize Competition

Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir makes it part of our core practices to commit to commissioning and performing new music, and providing singers with opportunities to collaborate with living composers. Therefore, it gives us great pride when our singers become composers in their own right. We're delighted to announce that Ecco singer Khoa Sands has been selected as a semifinalist for The American Prize in Composition. Khoa joined PEBCC in 2015 and has been sharing his compositions ever since. Ecco premiered his setting of Walt Whitman’s "Low Hangs the Moon'' in 2020.

Executive Director Keri Butkevich interviews Khoa Sands about his newest composition.

Ms. Keri: What inspired you to write this piece? Tell us a little more about your process.

Khoa: The first thing I look for is texts to set. I'm not a poet, so I look for poems that I want to set to music. When I was reading this poem by Kahlil Gibran, the text popped out for me - it's very vivid, very descriptive, very emotional. It had all of the things that you would want in a text to set to music: lots of lush imagery, emotional topics, clear rhythms- and I've got to set this to music. I started with the very last section and worked in a very non-linear manner over the course of several months.

Ms. Keri: How has your experience in the Choir influenced you as a composer?

Khoa: Completely! I've always had a particular affinity for classical music. When I joined choir I didn't like it very much. I stayed in choir because I liked Mr. Brown. I dreaded going to choir camp for the first time because my previous Sleepaway Camp experience was very bad, but when I got there I met Will Adams. He was working on a piece of music and I asked him if he could teach me to write music. At this point my theory knowledge barely extended to key signatures, so I was in no way prepared to compose, but Will referred me to Sue, who referred me to Eric, who got me the whole stack of theory books (which was unusual because usually you get them one at a time). Every day at Camp I would go through all the three books and do the exercises. When I got home I found an online course on Coursera about music composition - I took it, completed the theory books and that course in about 3 months, and discovered that I love music theory.

I love being in choir as there is a community of very talented people and mentors. We have a mentor program in the Performing department, but right away when I was at camp Will really occupied that role for me and continued after that as I became more interested in composing. Eric, Sue, Bob, and Mr. Brown were always interested, open, and willing to lend their time to help me edit pieces and to give me feedback to hone my skills. I've never been in an actual class on composition or had music education apart from choir and in terms of composition am initially self-taught, so the community of conductors so willing to step into a teaching role for younger students was very helpful.

Although I started very late not so long after people began to assume that I had been in choir far longer than I actually have. I think that just goes to show how welcoming the choir is. It's never too late to start the start choir.

Initially when I wanted to compose, I wanted to write orchestral music because those are my favorite composers. I'm very fond of Mahler and Wagner: the big orchestral composers

It was Mr. Brown who said: if you want to be successful, write for the forces that you have. This is why everyone writes string quartets - because everyone knows four people who can form a string quartet. I shifted my focus to choral music which has been very beneficial.

Ms. Keri: That's really wonderful counsel! I can see what a great opportunity for you to not only do choral music now but to be able to think with that mindset moving forward. I'm interested in what other impacts the choir has had on your growth as a musician and an artist. Clearly creative souls are not defined by one type of expression.

Khoa: Originally I was a theater kid and I joined Choir in order to hone my singing skills, but I very quickly came to appreciate choral music and singing in a choir and as I developed as a musician I started piano lessons and composition. The community in choir has definitely made me think about the other connections the other artistic things that I do with visual art or piano or this. While theatre was the first thing that I did, it led me to choir and music and all these other things.

Ms. Keri: I wanted to ask you about how composing and other artistic avenues helped you express yourself while we're all still kind of hunkered down in our homes.

Khoa: At the beginning of quarantine, I was calling and emailing with Sue a lot. I have not written any pandemic themed music - I've generally kept composing the same type of things. I wouldn't say this it's been a key mode of expression to whatever that we are going through right now or a particular source of comfort, but it is one of those things that makes me lose track of time. Everyone has something like that - it's great fun, but it's work that is great fun and I love doing it no matter what else is going on in the world.

Ms. Keri: So what are you looking forward to as we can sing together again and move forward?

Khoa: I'm looking forward to actually being able to perform in person again and hopefully having some of my pieces performed in person. I was going to get a piece premiered last year and they shut it down a couple days before the concert, so the premiere was a rehearsal video recorded on a phone. I'm looking forward to being in-person again both as a performer in the choir and as a composer. In terms of the future with music, I’m undecided yet whether I want to study music- I don't think I want to major in music in college although I definitely want to take music classes. I don't know if I want to be a primarily professional composer yet, but I will always continue to keep writing.

Ms. Keri: Thank you Khoa. I’m looking forward to hearing you sing with the Choir in person too, and hopefully hearing more of your compositions.