Levant understands the struggles. She started making up songs as a tween but didn’t truly embrace composing until earning a masters in music composition from Carnegie Mellon University in her 30s.
“We wanted to have a collaborative instead of a contest,” Levant said. “It’s about working together rather than competing. Hopefully everybody wins and nobody loses. We don’t usually start training composers until they’re 18 so we try to encourage young people to write earlier. We want to get composers of all ages in touch with musicians so they’re talking to each other.
Sunday’s free concert features Aurelian Oprea (violin), Lois Clond (violin), Sheridan Currie (viola) and Franklin Cox (cello). Other local musicians include Brent Eresman (clarinet), Candi Morris (oboe) and Jodi Boeddeker (contrabass flute).
“Some of the musicians are composers and some of them just like the opportunity to play new music,” Levant said. “For the most part, it will be a string quartet. It’s the same string quartet that did our concert last fall. They’ve been very supportive and I’m always so surprised how many other people think this is a really good idea. So many musicians, venues and composers have been incredibly supportive.”
Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or e-mail at donthrasher100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: COCOA Music concert with new music from Christian Berg, Gwen Brubaker, Franklin Cox and others
Where: Dayton Society of Artists, 48 High St., Dayton
When: 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11
Cost: Free but donations are accepted
More info: levantmusicstudio.com/cocoa-music
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