Lucy McKnight (1999)

## Introduction

Lucy McKnight is 18 and from Los Angeles, and just finished her Freshman year at the University of Southern Carolina. She majors in composition at college and has been composing since her Junior year of high school. Her background in music started at 2 years old when she started taking music classes and lessons. She was briefly interested in Opera from around ages 8-13 but found her passion in composition. Her older brother is a composer, therefore Lucy was introduced to the world of composing through her family. She has done several orchestra camps and composition programs the Walden School of Music composition program. These camps and programs helped shape her as a composer and give her the encouragement to move forward. She mainly plays the cello and sings as far as instrumental work. Her passion for composition first started when she composed a piece for an assignment in high school. She is now majoring in composition and has written 4 pieces in total. She eventually hopes to learn more about composition to help her decide whether or not it will become her career path. She has won several awards such as a winner of the American Composers' Forum NextNotes High School Composition program in 2016. She won first place along with another student in the Webster University's 2017 Young Composers' Competition.

## Works

**wail**(2017) was performed at the Alba Music Festival on May 31st.

- Lucy McKnight's piece **wail** (2017) was representative of the sounds of the deep ocean. The bass clarinet was used to imitate sounds a whale would make. The marimba was used not only by being struck but Transient Canvas also bowed the sides of the marimba to create unique and eerie sounds. Her piece made the audience feel as if they were in a vast and desolate ocean space. This piece capsized on emptiness and silence with extensive use of dynamics.

Other works:

- **Wir Juden** choral piece

- **Misery, made me a fiend** string quartet

## Comparisons

Lucy McKnight's music is very representative of darkness in passion. Her several pieces have been based on a tragic poem, vast ocean space, a negative character in a high school assignment, and misery itself. Although her music follows this theme so far, she has made each piece unique and special. She also has composed for different subject mediums such as choral, a string quartet, and a duo of the marimba and bass clarinet. It is difficult to compare her compositions thus far because she has only been composing for 2 years but she expressed that her next compositions will not be made for a deadline or specific event. It would be interesting to compare her music made for a specific event/deadline to music she has chosen just to make on her own.

## Observations

Lucy McKnight's music is very powerful and emotional. It demands the full attention of the audience and only when the audience can fully focus, will they get the emotional experience the music aims to convey. Her use of emptiness in several pieces is advanced and unique. McKnight's pieces have been fairly dark thus far. Her choral piece Wir Juden is based on a poem about the Auschwitz concentration camp. She discovered this poem in one of her mother's favorite poetry books and decided to use it as inspiration for her composition.

## Works Cited

Interview with Lucy McKnight while in Alba

http://www.sunsetchamberfest.com/lucymcknight/

http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwclassical/article/Los-Angeles-Master-Chorales-High-School-Choir-Festival-Concert-to-Stream-Online-20170413