For the 13th year in a row, Grand Valley State University’s Department of Music, Theatre and Dance (MTD) hosted the Art Museum Composition Competition. The Wednesday, March 26 event in the the GVSU Art Museum fused visual artwork with musicality, and provided a space for participants and attendees to engage with each other’s creations.

Eight participating students created musical compositions based on artwork, which were then performed by the New Music Ensemble in front of a panel of judges. This year’s guest judge was Cindy Meyers Foley, the director and CEO of the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM). The original compositions were inspired by two art pieces from the museum’s exhibition “Climate Matters: Our Changing and Resilient Planet.” 

GVSU senior Joy Anderson submitted two, 60-second compositions for the ensemble to perform.

“I was so happy to hear my work being performed, and so incredibly excited and proud to hear my classmates’ and friends’ pieces,” Anderson said. 

Anderson added it was both fun and nerve-wrecking to be part of the competition, as the premiere of new compositions have the ability to make for an exciting performance.

“For these two compositions, I took the approach of creating a story in my head behind each artwork, (and) came up with a pre-composition plan about what I wanted the piece to sound like,” Anderson said. “After I had a clear picture of (the) form and mood of the pieces, I started putting notes on the page until I came up with something I liked.”

Noah Seim, a pianist in the New Music Ensemble, said it was an interesting experience to play music without knowing the composers. 

“As performers, we don’t know who the composers are, even though we’re playing their music,” said Seim. “We’re as oblivious as the audience.”

Having received composers’ submissions a number of weeks ago, the musicians had time to prepare for the performances. Seim felt there was a great amount of pressure on the ensemble to perform well because the pieces are entirely new compositions. 

“There’s a ton of pressure on the group to play because it (the event) carries the weight of being the first time the work has been performed,” Seim said. “I was really nervous about the resonance in the space.”

The judges choose the composition they felt best fit the exhibitions’ two pieces, with a cash prize being offered to three winners. The audience was also allowed to vote, with an additional prize handed out to the audience’s favorite pick. 

“My favorite part of the night was the time in between the final piece and when the judges finished their deliberation, while the audience’s votes were counted,” Seim said. “The air was really quite electric, as everyone was talking (and) excitedly discussing the pieces in anticipation (of) the final results.”

The first place award was given to Adam West, while the second place winner was Zach Haverkamp. Third place was given to David Grimard, who was also the Audience Favorite. A bonus award was given to Anderson for composing the 300th piece of the event’s history.

“This is such a unique experience that I am so grateful we have been given here at Grand Valley in our Music Department,” Anderson said.