ROAR Spring 2013 - St. John's International School

Alumnus wins Wheatoncomposition contestA St. John’s graduate of 2004, Ileft the school equipped with awealth of general tools, as wellas a wealth of diverse goals anddesires, some more practical thanothers.After touring as my parent’sdrummer for a couple years(yes, they have a band), I movedto Virginia (U.S.) and pursuedthe all-too-practical notion ofengineering. In time, I did finallyrealize that, despite being agood deal less practical, I shouldactually study music full-time.In 2010 I enrolled in WheatonCollege’s Conservatory of Musicin Illinois, to study ContemporaryClassical Music Composition.Now, if you’re not sure whatprecisely that entails, that’salright. There’s an outside chanceyou might be better off, but forme, this has been the journeyof a lifetime! I’ll never forget Mr.Ritman’s music class, and fallingin love with Impressionism andMinimalism. Over time, thesefostered in me a fascination withthe type of music that has comeout of academia, “Serious music”or “Art music” as it is called.But just as Cage raised hisquestions about music, so allcomposers must continue toask questions about the value,place and role music has, and canhave in our lives. For my part, myexperiences at Wheaton havenurtured in me the exciting desireto see music as a bridge, a meansof connection. From the sacredto the profane, the complex tothe simple, high culture to low to“no culture,” music can bring ustogether if we allow it to. It canconnect different socio-culturalcircles, and it can connect us toour all-too-estranged and achinghearts.Most recently I was privilegedto win our yearly CompositionContest for my piece “It isa Poverty”, a work for twofemale vocalists, percussionand piano. It calls attention tohow we experience need, andhopefully provides a space for thelistener to better understand theopportunities we have to changeour world for the better.12You can listen to David’s music here:http://www.wheaton.edu/WETN/All-Media/Musical-Performances/130301ConcertoComp1?lightbox=trueKorean illustrator inspiresstudents on visit to St. John’sWe had the honor and pleasure ofhosting Yangsook Choi recently,an illustrator from South Korea.Ms. Choi was welcomed witha reception for the Koreancommunity in the ElementaryLibrary. Ms. Choi worked withfirst graders in the morning and6th graders in the afternoon.Yangsook Choi grew up inKorea and moved to New Yorkto study art. She was selectedas one of the most prominentnew children’s book artists byPublishers Weekly, and haswritten and illustrated manybooks for young readers. Herbooks have been acclaimed as“Best of the Best” by the ChicagoPublic Library, included on theAmerican Library AssociationNotable Book list, selected byPBS Reading Rainbow, and havereceived the International ReadingAssociation’s Children’s BookAward.The students had a wonderfultime with Yangsook Choi!