KENT, OH – Glauser School of Music Ph.D. student Haider Riaz performs original composition at Cleveland Chamber Symphony's Young and Emerging Composers Concert.
Haider Riaz, a Glauser School of Music Ph.D. student studying music composition, recently participated in the Cleveland Chamber Symphony's Young and Emerging Composers concert. In the concert, Riaz's original composition "Pisces" was premiered by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. "Pisces" is a “narrative of gradual destruction of consonance and even the idea of pitch,” according to the Cleveland Chamber Symphony program.
Originally from Pakistan, Riaz attended Kenyon College for his undergraduate studies and later Kent State for his master’s in music composition and is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program. He is continually inspired by the work of late 19th century symphonist Gustav Mahler, who’s work ultimately led Riaz to pursue composing.
“Haider's music, like Mahler's, includes a whole world of emotions and textures, ranging from the innocent to the apocalyptic. Haider makes use of a variety of materials, including lush harmonies, and noisy, extended techniques, which add up to a rich sound world,” said Dr. Adam Roberts, music composition and theory professor in the School of Music.
Each year the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, a longstanding chamber orchestra in the area that specializes in new music, performs a concert featuring student composers. Each school can nominate one student to participate. The concert employs professional musicians, offering students the rare opportunity to get their composition performed by professionals in the field.
“This kind of experience is hugely important for providing young composers with the sense that what they do is ‘real,’ and can provide substantial momentum for continuing in a career that can be extraordinarily rewarding but can also involve charting a difficult path,” said Roberts.