January 21, 2004
photo
Herald photo by Carol South
Central High School sophomore Alex Fowler composed "Ascendancy" using the school's computer and composition software during his stufy periods. His work prompted John Kratus, professor of music education at Michigan State University, to call Fowler " one of the best young composers in the state."

Noteworthy effort

CHS student's orchestral score selected for state music conference

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

       Being one of 22 most promising young composers in the state is a heady accomplishment for Alex Fowler, a tenth grade student at Traverse City Central High School.
      Fowler's orchestral composition, "Ascendancy," was chosen from among more than 100 submissions statewide to be played this weekend at the 59th Annual Michigan Honors Composition Concert in Ann Arbor. Fowler and members of the Traverse City Central Symphony Orchestra will perform his piece Saturday morning during the weekend-long gathering, under the direction of conductor Ellen Boyer. The piece will be one of 22 showcased at the event.
      But Fowler, an understated kind of guy, said he initially thought the piece he wrote as a freshman was uninteresting.
      "At first, when I played it at East Junior High, I thought it was boring, I didn't think it would be a hit," he recalled. "Miss Boyer helped me interpret it and that's when it sort of clicked."
      "It is challenging to play and that keeps it interesting," Fowler said. "Don't get me wrong, though, it's not Mozart."
      Boyer, however, is clear that this is an honor for Fowler, an acknowledgment of his composing talent.
      "We're excited about this, it is a big deal, a very big deal," said Boyer, who has worked with Fowler since junior high school.
      Boyer also noted that Fowler's composition is fairly sophisticated and elicits a variety of emotions during its two-and-a-half minute duration.
      "It starts out kind of in despair, then agony and then there's jubilation at the end," she said. "He's really captured, in human format, some real human emotions."
      Fowler was able to write the piece during his ninth grade year thanks to the help of Boyer and a guidance counselor at East. During his second semester, they helped him rearrange his schedule so he could come to Central High School and compose on the school's computer.
      Using Finale software, he created a variety of works, but only "Ascendancy" was unveiled publicly. Fowler, who continues to write music daily at school, calls it his first real composition that has seen the light of day outside the computer.
      He wrote two violin parts, a cello part, a viola part and a bass part for the piece. When Boyer decided to have the string symphony play the piece and send a recording of it to the competition, Fowler also designed a harp part for "Ascendancy."
      "Composing is sort of like drawing a picture," said Fowler, who plays cello with the orchestra and has been studying that instrument for five years. "Probably the cello part [in 'Ascendancy'] is a lot more fun to play because I knew I wanted to play it."
      Fowler also enjoys writing orchestral scores for pieces of music not normally associated with symphonies. He is currently working on a score for a song called "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses.
      "I hear a piece, I play it on the piano so I learn how it sounds and then I score it," said Fowler, who plans to pursue a career in public relations with possibly a minor in composition.
      Fowler's composing vocation almost never took root. As a sixth grade student at Traverse Heights Elementary School, he was strongly drawn to percussion instruments. In fact, he and his mother almost rented a drum set one day, an act that would have committed him to that path. That fell through temporarily and he was soon captivated by sounds of the cello, which he heard during an instrument demonstration at the school.
      "The cello sounded pretty cool, not the stereotypical violin scratchiness," he recalled.
      His parents, however, were unenthusiastic to him playing the cello so he bent the rules, much to his chagrin today.
      "I actually forged my teacher's signature on a note saying I would be pretty good at it and they reconsidered," Fowler admitted sheepishly. "It was a stupid sixth-grade stunt, what can I tell you?"