Inspiration can come from anywhere — a diary, black and white photographs of Nebraska life, or century-old newspapers.
Students from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Glenn Korff School of Music dove into collections held by the University Libraries's Archives and Special Collections to find muses for new original music. Scrapbooks, artists’ journals, photo albums, and even core samples from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica gave way to compositions that were performed by students during the Flyover Satellite Concert and reception April 13. The concert was part of the Libraries' Pages to Paths celebration, marking several milestones including 80 years of Love Library South and 50 years of Love Library North.
Cyrus Zgud, a music education major with an emphasis on voice and composition, had this vision to create a music collaboration between University Libraries and Glenn Korff School of Music. As the University Libraries celebrated five major anniversaries throughout the year-long celebration, Glenn Korff School of Music also moved into the new Westbrook Music Building. Zgud wanted to honor these milestones through music inspired by what he found in Archives and Special Collections during his summer working for them.
“I encountered the abundant resources that could provide inspiration to me and my fellow student composers,” Zgud said.
Zgud pitched his idea to Kathryn Hardgrave, a graduate teaching assistant for Composition and Theory and co-director of the Flyover New Music Concert Series. The concert series highlights student musical compositions.
“The Flyover Satellite concerts are open to anyone who wants to submit a composition, and the student composer is partnered with a performer that will interpret their work,” Hardgrave said.
Melanie Griffin, chair of the Archives and Special Collections and Traci Robison, outreach archivist, met with Hardgrave and Zgud to plan student engagement in the Archives and the concert. Robison and Griffin selected a variety of materials from the Archives and coordinated with Zgud to finalize an array of items that told a unique story or were connected to Nebraska’s history.
“One of the most important roles of the Archives and Special Collections is to make the primary resources that we steward accessible to researchers, students and learners," Griffin said. "We are excited that students created new musical compositions inspired by the historical record,."
Nate Buettner, one of the other student composers, sat with The Purple Journal, by artist and writer Karen Blessen. Buettner focused on the words written by the artist, “Harbor the seed of passionate desire to create beauty and kindness in the garden of one’s making.” Buettner found inspiration through the passion conveyed in Blessen’s journal, especially Blessen’s analogy of a garden.
“All the extra passion that one has goes into a journal. Passion can be ugly sometimes with too much anger or sadness. What an artist does is turn that passion into something beautiful,” Buettner said.
Zgud, a flute player, performed Buettner's composition, resulting in a melody characterized by fast motions and quick rising rhythm.
The Flyover Satellite Concert marked the successful culmination of collaboration, creativity and celebration in front of an audience of family, friends and the campus community
“The satellite flyover concerts are really fulfilling for us to apply the theory that we learn and to create something new,” Zgud said.
