Composition-Class

"Let me write my own music!"

Snapshot from an opera production of the composition class

The Clara Schumann Music-School is one of the few in Germany which offer the subject composition. David P. Graham began working here in 1986, building a class for free composition and music-theatre.

Composer and institution agreed: all children paint, write, dance, only music tends to be treated at the interpretative level. Composing can help people understand music and new music better, give them new areas of self-expression. Writing music-theatre breaks barriers between music and other arts.

To 2011 the class have written hundreds of chamber-music pieces, (in team-work) several operas and singspiels, music for silent films, music for a radio-play, and published music for children.

Chamber Concert with compositions of the Graham class

The class has been invited abroad (Steirischer Herbst, Austria; Festival Castiglione del Lago, Italy), some students realise their own dreams, writing for symphony orchestra or choir. Almost all written pieces are performed. The class is regularly present in the press and on radio, in 1993 West German Television made a film about us.

There are no conditions for entering the class, except the desire to write your own music. The age-range of the class is, at present, 10 to 26.

Application to join can be made simply through the responsible Study-group Director, by telephone to David Graham on (0049)(0)228-675654 or just send him an E-mail.

"Time for advertisements!"

We wrote music for a new duo, accordion and mandolin, which has almost no original music. The pieces are published by Augemus-Verlag, Essen (The Mouse and the Radiator) and can be ordered under ISMN: M-50010-095-9. That project was a cooperation with the Music-Academy of Cologne (Wuppertal section).

We also composed for Accordion solo: "Zweiunddreißig tierische Akkordeonstücke" (32 animalistic accordeon pieces, Augemus-Verlag, Essen, order nr. 00407/26200).

Treat yourself to a radio-play we wrote! Martin Baltscheits "The Girl who Didn't Want to Sleep" (in German) was broadcast in surround-sound on November 1st 2006. You can buy the SACD (which also works on normal CD-players) in good record-stores or from the producers Cybele Records.

"What's happening right now ..."

Around Easter we are planning a chamber music concert. After that, around December 2012 there will be another large-scale project. More information soon, right here!

We just finished a cooperation with JET, the young dance-ensemble of tanzhaus nrw, and with choreographer Ulla Geiges. A dance-programme with JET and music by us performed live by young musicians of the music school. Premiere was April 28th, a great success, repeated November 17th.

Our exchange-programme with the Italian music-school Scuola di Musica del Trasimeno in Castiglione del Lago was musically a big success and a lot of fun. We wrote for string-orchestra or quartet, went there and heard the first performances of our pieces, the Orchestra da Camera del Trasimeno came here and repeated the concert in the music school. In the right-hand column you can download and hear some of the pieces.

Information in German about (nearly) all German music-school composition-classes.