Leah Reid 

My dream idea is to work with a group of students on a collaboration between both the Music Department and Dance Program in the Department of Drama.  

Students enrolled in Composition I (MUSI 4581), will have the opportunity to compose new works for professional musicians and/or electronics, and work with a choreographer. Together, dancers, composers, choreographers, and musicians, will work to create new collaborative works that explore sound and movement.  

Over the semester, students enrolled in Composition I will work on two projects. The first will be a collaboration between Composition I and Special Topics in Dance (DANC 3590). This collaboration will focus on new works for stage. The second project will be a collaboration between Composition I and Dance Improvisation (DANC 2300). For this second project, students will focus on interactive, modular, and improvisation based compositions.

The majority of funds will be used to hire professional musicians to interact with, workshop, and perform student works. Ideally, these musicians will be part of UVA’s performance faculty. These performers will realize the composers and choreographers’ musical visions—bringing their works to life. I will work with both the students and musicians to develop, workshop, revise, and perfect these new pieces.    

The remaining funds will be applied towards refreshments and snacks for group meetings, and an end of semester dinner, where we will be able to discuss and reflect on our process, explorations, experiences, and finished projects. 

If implemented, this proposal would provide a crucial supplement to Composition I as well as the dance courses. This project will foster and encourage collaborative relationships between the Drama and Music Departments and will provide a forum for students to engage with performance faculty. This collaboration will be novel for all participants and will allow student composers to have their pieces workshopped and performed by professional musicians. At the end of the semester, I will help students with documentation so they are able to put samples of these works in their portfolios. This funding will allow me to create a special semester-long project that would not be possible if it weren’t for the generous support of The Mead Endowment.

 Proposed Budget

Expense for professional performers = $2000

Refreshments for group meetings = $600

End of semester dinner = $400

Total = $3,000