Today we’d like to introduce you to Yoni Fogelman.
Hi Yoni, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My earliest memories of music are listening to CDs that my dad burned for me – kind of like mixtapes from father to son. These were full of The Beach Boys, Elton John, The Monkeys, The Everly Brothers – music that’s always seemed hip to me because it was the music I grew up with. My second most vivid musical memory is singing prayers at Hebrew school. I would sing loudly and enthusiastically, and I was so happy doing it. I sang in the glee club in elementary school, and I continued singing and performing in Christine DeMore’s choir program at Jordan Middle School in Burbank. Meanwhile, I began taking piano lessons, and by the eighth grade, I was writing short piano pieces in my bedroom. I sat down at my keyboard, improvised until I heard something I liked and ran with the idea.
To this day, that process remains majorly unchanged. What has changed, thanks to the Los Angeles arts community, is my ability to present my music in front of an audience. My first opportunity to do so was in 2017, during my sophomore year at John Burroughs High School. I was a member of the “Powerhouse” Chamber Choir, and I was determined to write a piece for us to sing. I approached our director, Brendan Jennings, and showed him a few choral pieces I had written. He graciously programmed one of them in the following year’s concert, and my music was suddenly out in the world. The following year, I wrote two more pieces for Powerhouse, and in the fall of 2020, I got to combine my love for music with my devotion to my faith. I set music to one of the Hebrew Psalms, and I taught it to Powerhouse, relating the music to the Biblical text. My growing experience as a choral composer encouraged me to write instrumental music as well. I continued composing on the piano and learned about the different abilities and functions of the instruments in the orchestra. This experience prepared me for the spring of 2019 when I was presented with my first opportunity to write instrumental music as part of the Sunset ChamberFest music festival. At the festival, I got to work with professional composers to write a violin duet entitled “As Mist Falls Over Calm Water.” I was so thrilled to meet a community of living composers, and I grew more certain that composition was the right path for me.
Through Sunset ChamberFest, I was introduced to a community of passionate artists that have since heightened my musicianship and quality of life. The first is the Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Program. Alongside other high-school-aged composers, I attend weekly classes at Walt Disney Concert Hall where we are assigned musicians to write music for. In the fall of 2019, I wrote a piece for violin, viola, and cello. That winter, I was tasked to write an orchestra piece for the American Youth Symphony, and in the spring of 2020 I completed a work for flute, clarinet, harp, and string quartet, inspired by another Biblical text, the Tower of Babel. I am so honored to write music for professional musicians, receive mentorships from kind, accomplished composers, and befriend a community of teenagers who love writing music as much as I do. Now, I also work with performers my age as one of two composers in the LA Phil’s new Steven Stucky and Sue Tsao Fellowship. I attend rehearsals with students in the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA) as they prepare my new string orchestra piece, “Made By and for the Future.” I am equally grateful for my composer fellowship with the Pasadena Master Chorale. Since September 2019, I have been working with composer mentors to write two new pieces for the city choir. After singing in vocal groups throughout my life, it is a dream come true to write music for a professional choir.
Twice a month, I meet with the mentors and the other young composers to learn about choral music and prepare for the performance of our music. Like the LA Phil fellowships, I am so thankful to write music besides other people who love the craft and want to express their true selves. I am particularly emotional about my partnership with the Master Chorale because it allows me to look back at my own development, beginning as a young kid who loved to sing and maturing into a musician and composer who continues to discover himself through music. I am currently taking classes at Pasadena City College, studying privately with composers and arrangers, offering private music lessons, and further developing my compositional skills. Alongside my concert chops, I am developing my film scoring abilities as another way to keep telling stories with the music I write. My experiences as a budding composer confirm that I cannot describe what I do simply by tracing my compositional process or listing the pieces I have written. I am just as devoted to telling stories and connecting to an audience with my music, and I desire to employ my music to connect with people for the rest of my life.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I work very hard, but I am thankful to say my artistic journey has been a relatively smooth one. Growing up in Los Angeles has offered me countless opportunities to compose and perform in environments unavailable to most other students. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major struggle finding ways to perform and hear my music, but this struggle is not unique to me. I do have trouble sometimes being confident in my music, which has a lot of cinematic and audience-friendly elements to it (recognizable melodies/harmonies/clap-able rhythms) because many living composers tend toward and celebrate highly experimental artists. That being said, my main obstacles are the endless sea of knowledge before me and the lifelong pursuit of what music is for me. These obstacles do not inhibit my output though; they keep me searching for answers 🙂
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I compose music for concert and media purposes. I am studying classical and jazz composition, and I have experience writing music for soloists, chamber groups, orchestras, choirs, and jazz bands. The great benefit of working in Los Angeles is that I have the opportunity to do all sorts of work. I am currently writing an orchestra piece, mixing a hybrid (acoustic and electronic) film score, and arranging a pop EP. I specialize writing for instruments of the orchestra and voice, but I am tasked to work in all different genres and with all different sorts of instruments regularly, so I am always learning. I am most proud of projects that I feel demonstrate my musical abilities and bear emotional and fraternal weight. Recently, I wrote a set of three pieces for choir with poetry from my best friend and talented director/poet Eli Staub. The texts were so meaningful to us individually and as friends, and we share so many memories from our choir experience that the whole creative process facilitated an even stronger bond between the two of us.
In addition, we talked at great length about poetry, choral music, and text painting, and we created works that feel as if they were made for one another. In anticipation of those pieces’ performances, I look fondly on our writing process. I feel a similar sense of pride from the latest film score I did with the director Robbie McMurray. We spoke at great length about the film and about conveying the on-screen emotions through my music. I feel a stronger connection with Eli and Robbie, and I grew as a composer working on these recent projects, so I am especially proud of them. I feel that if my raw talent cannot distinguish me from others, then my work ethic will. I am disciplined, excited to work and make new connections, and drawn to the opportunity to create emotion and story out of music. I create a daily schedule for myself that is packed with work, and I am eager to get through it all… and I haven’t burnt out yet! I am optimistic, hungry for work, and always ready to learn.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Risk-taking must be accompanied by thoughtful planning and good intention. I differentiate risk-taking in my day-to-day life from risk-taking in my art. Daily risks, whether they be trying new foods or activities or making long-term changes, require foresight and planning! I made a risk this past year in my school decision. I was headed to the University of Southern California, known for its incredible music school and connections, but I decided to withdraw my spot because of the high tuition and online classes. For the first time in my life, I did not know what my future would look like, and I had to pick myself up and figure out a new plan. I took a risk by withdrawing my spot from my dream school, but I did not make this decision on a whim. I talked it over with my family, discussing the financial concerns, educational opportunities, and alternate paths I could take. I am now taking classes at Pasadena City College, studying privately with composers and arrangers, working for a recording studio and non-profit organizations, and offering music lessons of my own. I would not have been able to cultivate all of these activities had I not taken a thoughtful risk. Artistic risk for me is more about intention.
As a student/quasi-professional composer, taking risks is often so that I can learn from them. Perhaps I’ll try a new musical texture or combination of instruments or scale, and I reflect on my choice when hearing my music live. This way, I am always learning from my risks. If my risk-taking regards the subject matter of my music, then I have to consider whether or not now is the time to be conventional or unique. I was kind of nervous about writing music about Biblical stories for my high school and for the LA Phil fellowship because neither was an overwhelmingly religious community. These stories meant a lot to me, but I was scared that other people would be averse to the pieces because the communities were unfamiliar with Judaism. Nonetheless, I decided those two occasions were opportunities to express myself regardless of whether or not other people could relate to them. I value convention and staying within the status quo, but the occasional diversion from familiarity keeps things alive and interesting for me.
Pricing:
- Piano/Vocal Lessons: $40
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: yonifogelman.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoni.fogelman/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yoni.fogelman
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCooeU2ypj9juqo5OWhlhXxQ
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/yonifogelman
Image Credits
Moses Sparks Suzy Shearer Eli Staub
