Before I get started, since we’ve been reflecting, I wanted to bring attention to a piece I was reminded of! This is Reflections by Cait Nishimura, one of my favourite composers for Wind Band.
https://caitnishimura.com/pages/reflections
Cait Nishimura is a Canadian composer of Japanese descent, based in Ontario. I’ve played a number of her works, and she is an inspiration to me and many other young musicians of colour in the country. Her music often takes inspiration from nature and she has a unique style that’s particular to her – you’ll hear a piece and you’ll know that it’s Cait Nishimura based on the lush textures, contour and type of music she creates.
In terms of setting up the blog, the hardest part might have been just reading through everything, haha! A lot of instructions, but I followed them fairly strictly and the setup process went pretty smoothly as a result. I’ve been kind of learning on the fly and playing around with the website and settings, seeing what I can find. Overall, it feels pretty intuitive, so I’m excited to see what I can do with it.
I’m looking forward to using this blog as a means to reflect on the music and sounds that I’ve heard, as well as the things I’m thinking about. Ultimately, I might use this as a means to track my progress on any compositions or other musical endeavours that I’m currently pursuing. I might post about composers I like or am listening to for inspiration. I would like to eventually be published as a composer, so it will be good to get out my thoughts and ideas in a format like this, where I can look back and determine my routes and paths musically. Looking forward to it!