Today we’d like to introduce you to Aidan Vass.
Aidan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a composer from the greater Los Angeles area, but I want to start my story with something a little different. When I was a little child, I had a table in my garage, and that table was home to a makeshift city I made out of Legos. Everyday after school, I would retreat to this table and spend hours upon hours making it into whatever I felt was adequate. And when my imagination outgrew the table, I would think of creative ways to take the toys beyond the table, creating a story along the way.
As I got older, I outgrew the toys and needed a new creative outlook. I rediscovered the piano that had always been in the front room of my house, and the hours that used to be dedicated to the table were now dedicated to hours of improvising and learning new songs by ear on the piano. Soon after, I began formal study with Nina Kelly, who helped me develop my piano technique and understanding of music, as well as fostering my inevitable desire to write music of my own. In 2016 I began to study composition with Brett Banducci. Under his instruction, I was able to reach new heights as a composer.
In 2019, I had an idea for an animated music video set to a piece for electric piano. The video would portray a silhouette of myself made of floating orbs playing an abstract piano, which would collectively symbolize the union of ideas in the process of creative activity. This project was originally very daunting, as I would have to create an animation, write a full-length piece for electric piano, produce a recording, and edit everything together. However, I thought back to my youth, concentrating my creative activity on that Lego city in the garage. I knew I could pull this off if I really put everything I had into it, and later that summer, Abounding Ideas was released, exactly as I had imagined.
This multi-media piece was to be the genesis of everything I did afterwards. It made sense to me that my first independent release be an actual metaphor for my creative identity. I then began what would be my largest project to date, an expansive collection of programmatic piano pieces with video accompaniment. After months of writing and planning, I was ready to have them recorded and filmed, but the pandemic we all love so dearly put the project on a pause. I used this hiatus to refine my recording engineering and production skills, and I also curated a second multi-media project featuring the amazingly talented cellist Andres Ayerbe. This was called Gray Tree, and it was inspired by the painting of the same by Piet Mondrian.
Fast forward to today. Those vague piano pieces became a collection of “8 Sketches for Piano”, which were released as my debut album on March 14, 2021. The first 5 of the pieces each had a unique video accompaniment, which were also released in the weeks prior to the album release. I am now in my third year with the Nancy and Barry Sanders’ Composer Fellowship Program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and I am a two-time YoungArts winner for composition. As a fellow, I have written music for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the American Youth Symphony, and members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, among other ensembles. I’m excited for what my future has to offer me, and I’m extremely grateful for all of the mentors who have gotten me here.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I wouldn’t say it’s been a smooth road, though it has been quite steady. I realized early on that in order to see success as an artist, I would have to take initiative with every project I embark on. This means approaching composition as an entrepreneurial act. A few months into the pandemic, I was introduced over zoom to Houston-based cellist Andres Ayerbe, and we decided to work on a full-length animated cello piece. Because I was coordinating the entire project, I needed to have very strong organizational and leadership skills. The project involved writing a full-length cello piece, commissioning a painter to paint frames of Andres and I, producing and mixing audio, and creating a convincing animation while learning the software. In the end, I managed to create a final product that I was very happy with, called “Gray Tree”. This project facilitated my ability to coordinate large projects and take initiative to achieve my visions, just as the Abounding Ideas project I mentioned earlier did. So when I say that the road has been quite steady, I am implying that my consistency with my approach has allowed me to see consistent growth in my still very young career. Of course, there have been plenty of obstacles throughout, the pandemic being the obvious one. However, having a persistent entrepreneurial mindset has allowed me to carry on past these obstacles with ease.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Well, I’m a composer, which means I write music down to be played at a later date. What sets me apart from others is my aesthetic style in which I direct my visual projects and write my music. The reason I write music, however, comes down to something much more personal. I see notated music as a way of establishing a legacy for myself past my lifetime. When you listen to a performance of piece, you are hearing a rebirth of the ideas the composer intended. A recording of a piece of music can only capture the moment that was recorded. Think of a recording as a picture of a memory and a performed piece as a relived memory. All of my music that has been released online has sheet music that is available for purchase so that the music can be reborn to a new audience. I am also a fan of using aleatoric notation, which means writing music that does not strictly define rules for the performer. This allows for every performance of the piece to be slightly different, leaving room for the performers to decide how the piece ought to be carried out.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I know for a fact that I would not be the person or artist I am today without the influence of all of my past and present friends and mentors. My piano mentor, Nina Kelly, and my private composition mentor, Brett Banducci, have done so much to help me go the places I need to be successful, and I owe every bit of any future successes to them. I should also mention my mentors at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Andrew Norman, Sarah Gibson, and Thomas Kotcheff. They have taught me so much about what it means to be a composer, and they have helped me learn advanced compositional skills while developing a sound and style that is unique to myself. Still, my parents are my largest and most important advocates. I am marveled by the amount of support they have shown me in pursuing a path that is inherently risky, and I owe so much more than I can possibly offer to them in return.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: aidanvass.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aidan_vass/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aidanvassmusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGRul13shb_qgtRmYgDTLcA?view_as=subscriber
Image Credits:
Katie Moos
