Award-winning 'Concord' composed by Lipscomb junior
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By: Katera Bolander
Lipscomb University junior Michael Rickelton won first place in the Southeastern Composers' League Arnold Salop Memorial Composition Contest for his art song "Concord," a setting of Emerson's Concord Hymn.
"Concord" is a piece for voice and piano. It is based on the poem "Concord Hymn" written by Ralph Waldo Emerson about the battle at Concord, said Rickelton.
"I chose to compose a piece based on Emerson's text because it provides great subject matter and emotion from which to draw the composition. This is the first piece I've ever composed for voice and piano."
Rickelton does not wait for teachers to tell him what to compose. His compositions are self-motivated, as are his competition entries.
"Michael began composing choral works on his own initiative. He then began finding national competitions to send them to, again working completely independently," said Jerome Reed, professor of music at Lipscomb. "I only had to mention to Michael that he should be looking for contests to enter and he ran with it. Michael possesses a joy of learning and a thirst for knowledge unlike most other students, and he consistently produces excellent scores."
Rickelton is a Music Education major at Lipscomb with aspirations of being able to compose full time after graduate school. He was accepted and awarded a scholarship to attend the European American Musical Alliance program in Paris, France this summer. The school offers a joint program headed by The Juilliard School, Indiana University Bloomington, Mannes College of Music, Paris Conservatory and the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. The program will offer Rickelton intensive study in composition taught in the tradition of the legendary Nadia Boulanger, according to the eamusic.org website.
Rickelton credits Lipscomb's music department and focus on student-teacher relationships with his musical success.
"I have learned most of what I know about music at Lipscomb," said Rickelton. "I decided to pursue music in high school, but didn't really know much until coming here. The student-teacher relationships at Lipscomb have been instrumental in allowing me to be in the best learning environment possible. I can converse one-on-one with my professors and, with the relationships established, tailor my education so that I am learning as much as possible all the time. The small class sizes also enable me to carry over lessons learned in one class to other classes."
Rickelton is currently involved in Lipscomb's A Capella Singers, Early Music Consort and Guitar Ensemble; Vanderbilt's Community Chorus and the Nashville Symphony Chorus.
For more information about Lipscomb's music program or about Rickelton's achievements, contact Reed at 615.279.5809 or by emailing jerry.reed [at] lipscomb.edu.
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