This sponsored article is a part of a paid partnership with the Curtis Institute of Music.
Based mostly in Louisville, composer, producer, and performer TJ Cole has cultivated a various profession that encompasses a variety of musical types. Whether or not by means of orchestral and chamber music or electro-acoustic and theatrical compositions, Cole’s work persistently challenges expectations by merging conventional influences with experimental approaches. Their newest mission, Phenomenal of the Earth (2023), which options synthesizer, theatrical percussion, and strings, was created throughout their time with the Louisville Orchestra Creators Corps program.
On December 13, the Curtis Institute of Music will showcase Cole’s Loss of life of the Poet (2014), an orchestral composition accomplished whereas they have been a scholar on the establishment. This earlier work demonstrates Cole’s distinctive expertise in crafting emotive melodies woven into wealthy harmonies. The piece earned them a 2014 ASCAP Morton Gould Younger Composer Award, one in all two such accolades, the opposite being for his or her string quartet Playtime in 2020.
Whereas Loss of life of the Poet displays a big level in Cole’s profession, their artistry has continued to evolve. Their latest fee for Curtis’ 100 for 100 marketing campaign, a solo synthesizer piece titled the music was so stunning, that i spotted i hadn’t forgiven myself, and cried, marks a recent chapter of their compositional journey, showcasing the expansion of their type and pursuits.
Moreover, Cole is half of Choir Siren, an improvised electro-acoustic duo they fashioned with violinist-composer Emily Ravenscraft in 2023. This progressive collaboration explores distinctive soundscapes and crafts immersive experiences utilizing varied mediums, together with synthesizers, reside sound design, motion, and visible parts.
Cole’s inventive endeavors are characterised by a playful humorousness that resonates all through their work. Forward of their efficiency at Curtis on December 13, we posed 5 inquiries to them about their growth as an artist over the previous decade.
Do the phrases “composer, producer, and performer” adequately seize the vary of interdisciplinary mediums in your inventive initiatives, or ought to we invent new language to higher outline your work?
I recognize a very good umbrella time period! “Artist” feels broad sufficient, even when a bit cliché. I typically discover myself confined to the title of “composer” on account of my background, and whereas I worth that facet, it would not completely embody the assorted roles I assume.
I get pleasure from blurring the traces between totally different disciplines. Not too long ago, I collaborated with my pal Joyce Barbour on a efficiency titled No One Questions a Mountain. On this collaboration, we shared management in a really anarchic means; as a skilled visible artist, Joyce dealt with a lot of the musical composition, whereas I engaged with motion, props, and singing. Our conversations targeted on the intersection of trans identities and landscapes, and by not assigning particular roles, I turned extra of a efficiency artist. Collaborations like these problem conventional definitions and maintain folks guessing, which I discover refreshing.
Humor appears to be a necessary factor in your course of, prominently featured in your newer works, whereas much less so in earlier items like Loss of life of The Poet. When did humor turn out to be a key facet of your inventive course of, and the way has your method developed since Loss of life of the Poet?
Loss of life of the Poet holds a particular significance for me, rising from what I name my “moody-boy” part. Humor has step by step discovered its means into my work, however these days, it has turn out to be extra central. I’m drawn to creating experiences that provoke sturdy feelings—doubtless as a result of I are inclined to really feel deeply. Loss of life of the Poet was essential in serving to me perceive that I may channel these feelings into my artwork, and the suggestions I acquired, particularly from viewers members who shared how the piece helped them course of grief, has been extremely humbling.
Presently, I discover myself extra targeted on making folks giggle, which isn’t sometimes seen in live performance settings. I dislike the inflexible environment typically related to concert events, so I see humor as a technique to ease that pressure—for each the viewers and myself.
The conclusion that humor may very well be efficient got here whereas composing Playtime. It was commissioned for a efficiency at a winery with a “high-society” vibe, and I wished to problem these conventional settings since I typically really feel misplaced in them. I gathered thrifted youngsters’s toys for inspiration, which led to a enjoyable and playful course of that I completely loved.
A number of years in the past, I encountered burnout and contemplated stepping away from composing altogether. The fixed calls for, minimal monetary return, and stress from establishments to adapt to slim expectations left me in a darkish area. Most of composing takes place behind the scenes, and at that time, it felt suffocating.
Since returning to my craft, I’ve prioritized pleasure in my work. Humor has turn out to be integral, not simply as a inventive software however as a mechanism for coping. Paradoxically, I’m taking humor fairly critically.
Your latest work with synthesizers, each in items like the music was so stunning and in your duo Choir Siren, has elevated. What attracts you to give attention to the synthesizer?
Rising up as a aggressive pianist, the keyboard has at all times felt like my house for composition. The realm of digital music seems much less constrained by the hyper-competitive tradition I skilled. Digital musicians are inclined to method gear with curiosity quite than competitors, celebrating every particular person’s distinctive setup.
Synthesizers have an unimaginable capability to provide expansive, orchestral sounds whereas retaining an intimacy, as they’re typically performed by one particular person. I’m significantly fascinated by my Prophet-6; its temperament and natural really feel echo that of acoustic devices, making it distinctive. My piece, the music was so stunning and many others., grew from an improvisation with this instrument, however I’ve by no means managed to recreate its authentic sound.
I’m intrigued by devices that glitch or fail—people who appear to have interaction with me. This unpredictability grounds me in an arts panorama fixated on polished, completed works. It evokes exploration past conventional frameworks.
Choir Siren — Photograph by O’Neil Arnold
The Louisville Orchestra Creators Corps is a exceptional program that immerses composers in each the orchestra and the native Louisville neighborhood. What was it like for you as a resident composer in 2023?
My expertise concerned loads of composing, attending press occasions, and dealing instantly with the orchestra. I used to be used to advocating for unconventional concepts inside giant establishments, however this residency was open to such creativity, together with the incorporation of a synthesizer concerto. Teddy welcomed these concepts, the musicians have been enthusiastic, and Jacob Gotlib supplied invaluable assist.
I collaborated with VOICES of Kentuckiana, an LGBTQ+ choir, on a mission that included private audio tales about choir members’ experiences with gender. This collaboration got here shortly after protests in opposition to an anti-trans invoice on the Kentucky Capitol, making it a robust alternative to have interaction with queer tradition. The choir’s candidness contributed to the mission’s emotional depth.
The inventive neighborhood in Louisville considerably enhanced my residency expertise, with many welcoming me upon my arrival. This system’s construction of getting a number of resident composers was significantly useful, and I used to be lucky to have distinctive cohort companions.
Louisville native Tyler Taylor helped us navigate the town’s socio-political surroundings, whereas Lisa Bielawa shared her experience in managing giant initiatives and dealing with employees and executives, offering views I wouldn’t have grasped as somebody not but absolutely embedded within the establishment. Their insights have been invaluable, creating a way of familial assist that prevented isolation in the course of the residency.
A yr wasn’t sufficient for full immersion in the neighborhood, so I nonetheless reside in Louisville. I’m immensely grateful to be a part of its vibrant inventive scene.
As you carry out with Choir Siren, compose for live performance phases, and have interaction in varied multidisciplinary initiatives, how do these totally different pursuits enrich your observe?
I worth how every ability enhances my total creative method, whereas additionally realizing how interconnected they’re. Choir Siren, the improvisational electro-acoustic duo I fashioned with Emily Ravenscraft, challenges me to embrace imperfection and spontaneity. Our collaboration emerged from the shared trauma of classical conservatory experiences and a mutual want to withstand perfectionism in each efficiency areas and ourselves.
Emily typically jogs my memory to maintain our reveals “low-pressure and high-reward.” This freedom to improvise differs vastly from composing for live performance settings, which is normally a extra structured course of. My experiences in improvisation affect my composed work organically, whereas my live performance music background brings a transparent construction to Choir Siren.
My time in digital music, significantly producing with the witch-pop band Twin Pixie, dramatically shifted my method to live performance music. Working inside DAWs supplied the prospect to file and experiment with sounds with out the constraints of notation. Now, when composing, I first file my concepts right into a DAW earlier than transcribing them, enabling a give attention to the auditory expertise quite than technical specs.
I’ve additionally begun to use ideas from pop manufacturing to my orchestral writing, contemplating how varied sounds work together, layer, and stability. In pop, you’ll be able to merge numerous parts to create a single “instrument”—like deriving one sound from a thousand elephant calls. This stage of creativeness revitalizes my method to live performance music.
TJ Cole — Photograph by Jeffrey Parish and Brittany Conder
Lately, I’ve delved deeper into interdisciplinary work. It started with alternatives to carry out 20-minute units at native bars, the place I may discover no matter concepts I had and witness a plethora of distinctive initiatives. I am grateful for these experiences in Montreal, Philadelphia, and Louisville—thriving DIY scenes are invaluable! These performances have allowed me to experiment with props, vogue, motion, and sound artwork—codecs typically absent from conventional live performance environments—main me to consider incorporating these parts into my live performance music for extra participating performances.
Composed works let me retreat right into a inventive area, diving deeply into ideas, whereas improvised or interdisciplinary engagements encourage risk-taking and experimentation with decreased constraints. Every self-discipline fosters distinctive collaborations and problem-solving expertise that inform my creative observe.
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