Skye Neal

Second prize winner in Ages 15-18 division
Winning composition: Impatience

How old were you when you started composing?
I have been improvising on the piano for as long as I can remember, and then at around 7 years I began notating my ideas.

What do you love most about composing music?
I love how expressive I can be! It's a really cool feeling to pour so much emotion into a piece, then hear it reflected back to me in the music.

Tell us a little about your winning IYWCC composition.
In Impatience, I explore the emotions that come with waiting for something to happen, like restlessness, boredom, and frustration. I want to capture that mix of nervousness and excitement, along with the perception of time being stretched out while you're wishing it would hurry up. The piece begins with a rolling arpeggiated theme in the piano, with the cello and violin providing countermelodies, conveying the tense anticipation you feel as you wait. After that theme develops for a bit, we transition into a slower section with a lush cello solo. This part is meant to represent the idle passage of time as you try to distract yourself from whatever it is you can't get off your mind. Eventually those efforts fail and the original rushed theme returns. After a bit more interplay between the first two themes, the piece speeds into an invigorating conclusion.

What was your process/approach to composing your piece for IYWCC?
I wrote Impatience as a part of the Jacobs Composition Academy Summer Intensive this year. It was such a fun challenge to get to write a trio in just 5 weeks! Usually I like to let the music show me where it wants to go next, but with this piece I did more planning ahead of time. I wanted to play around with guiding the audience's emotion throughout the piece, using delay in resolution to build tension and counter their expectations.

What is your advice to someone who is interested in composing a piece but does not know where to start?
Don't be afraid to make mistakes! You'll be amazed what you can do once you finally silence your inner critic. Listen to music from many different genres. Try to find what it is about the music that you like, and what techniques they are using to achieve that effect. You can then start to incorporate some of your favorite elements into your own compositions.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I like to crochet! I especially love making things I can wear like cozy sweaters, scarves, or embroidery thread earrings.