154 - Thinking It Was Too Late, Until It Wasn't

Sugar Vendil attempted composition right after grad school—musicians learn a language but don't always use it this way—then stopped because it felt overwhelming and too late. She'd started piano young, already knew she was good at that, and classical training emphasizes craft in performance. For years she had strong ideas for pieces but collaborated with other composers to realize them. One collaboration wasn't working. Sitting in LAX after learning a friend had died, she turned to her husband and said, "I have to make the piece. Life's too short." That became her first work, interdisciplinary with choreography. She stopped again, focused on her ensemble, commissioned other composers. Then two more friends died. A Target Margin fellowship pushed her to investigate new ways of interacting with the piano. Everything converged: loss, exploration, the realization that she knew what she wanted. She decided to make the damn thing herself.Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on Instagram: @loose.leaf.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.