Interview with Sarah Hersh (Part 1)

In 2010 the two members of Diagenesis, Heather Barnes and Jennifer Bewerse, were lucky enough to meet at soundSCAPE - a new music festival in Macaggno, Italy. But if you’re reading this post, you probably knew that already!  What you might not know is we also had the opportunity to meet some other AMAZING musicians and composers.

As part of our 2012 Florida tour, we'll be premiering a new piece by one of those fantastic composers, and today we’d like to introduce you to her - composer Sarah Hersh!  

Diagenesis: Do you come from a musical family?
Sarah: My grandfather was a wonderful pianist, and there was one piece in particular that I loved watching him play so much (yes, watching, because of the way his hands moved over the keys) that it made me want to play the piano - Phantasietanz by Schumann
    My dad had grown up playing saxophone but he always wanted a piano, and when I was in sixth grade we finally got one. We got a beautiful upright Sohmer and to this day I still think it’s one of the best pianos I’ve ever played.  My dad started learning to play the piano at the age of... around 40, I think. My sisters and I all took lessons, my mom would play sometimes, and even my cat would (she very much enjoys jumping up on the keys).


Diagenesis: What instrument did you start on?
Sarah: Well I guess the clarinet is really my first instrument.  I started playing in elementary school, but I didn’t have as much motivation as I did with the piano. Later on I got much more into the clarinet though, and I actually played all throughout school and college. In college I started taking it more seriously and took lessons and was in the wind ensemble and orchestra. Actually I even took cello lessons for one term in college, Jen! But I wasn’t very good.

Diagenesis: So, when you applied for college was it for Clarinet or music or a different subject?
Sarah: I wasn’t actually sure I was going to continue with music when I applied to college. I knew I would do it sort of as a hobby I guess, but I didn’t decide to major in music and really pursue it seriously until my sophomore year. I applied to liberal arts schools so I knew I could do music if I wanted to, but I was interested in a million things and had trouble settling on anything (and still kind of do...).
    I got extremely lucky, since I wasn’t really looking too closely at the music departments or composers at the schools I applied to, and the school I ended up at - Carleton College - had a great music department and a wonderful composer in residence. They’re also one of the few schools that I know of that requires all music majors to take composition classes, no matter if you’re a composer, performer, musicologist, etc.
Diagenesis: That is a really good idea!
Sarah: I agree! I think all schools should do it.

Diagenesis: How did you become a composer?
Sarah: Before we got our family piano, we had a keyboard, and I would make up little tunes on it and ask my mom to write them down (this was before I could read music). Later, I started composing with my piano teacher, and in college I almost always found it more interesting to write my own music than to practice what other people had written... which didn't make me a great pianist but probably made me a better composer.
Diagenesis: What a great natural start! When and how did you decide to pursue it professionally?
Sarah: That’s a really good question! I guess in college once I had started seriously composing I knew that it was something I had to keep doing. When I finished the piece I wrote for my senior thesis I actually cried (I was so sad that it was done). After I graduated from college I really needed a break from formal education, so I got a job. I didn’t stop composing though. I ended up taking a class after work at Juilliard, then started working for a music organization. It became clear to me pretty quickly that I wanted to pursue this professionally, so that’s when I decided to go to grad school.

That’s just some of the great stuff we discussed with Sarah.  We also discussed her musical influences, a sneak peek into the piece she’s writing for Diagenesis, and a look into her great blog!  Look for more in future posts! 

Thank you for such a fun conversation Sarah!