Interview with composer Gillian Walker

Gillian Walker is a composer from Ayr with strong ties to The Cumnock Tryst. She first worked with The Cumnock Tryst on a work experience placement while a student of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2018, where she gained valuable experience of working as a composer in the community. Since then, she has twice been commissioned by the Tryst to write music for our annual festival. Gillian has led our latest project, East Ayrshire Young Composers, which takes place on Tuesday 20th February at 7.30pm at St Joseph R C Church.

Gillian, how young where you when you began composing and how were you introduced to the idea? 

I was around 18 years old when I first started composing. I had lessons from Audrey McPherson at the time and she ignited my passion for seeking out new music and writing my ideas down. 

Young people might find the prospect of composing original music challenging, how do you go about ensuring they aren’t intimidated by the idea?

The idea of starting a piece from scratch is super intimidating! I always compare it to the 'blank canvas' situation - what do we do first? I tend to break down the steps of composition, as it comes down to a few key decisions: on pitches, rhythms, timbre, structure, concept etc... Whilst also trying to challenge the idea that - "what we write down first must be the best idea ever."  A lot of students find composition overwhelming to start with as they may have a mixture of sonic ideas which they are struggling to formulate and write down. However, I try to show them examples of successful/interesting/relevant pieces which use a very limited compositional palette. This can encourage students to take smaller compositional steps and appreciate very simple and effective ideas which will help them to start putting pen to paper.

The experience of hearing your original composition translated to live music must be so enthralling, how best would you describe that experience?

It really is an amazing experience, especially for a young person who has just recently started writing music down. Some people describe the music as 'coming to life' much in the same way a drawing can be animated. 

At what point did you think that being a composer would become your career? 

Not until very recently. During my Masters degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama I had amazing opportunities to have my work performed by interdiscplinary artists and musicans, and I was also being asked to deliver education projects in music composition across the UK. This combination of writing music and delivering education projects made me realise I could have a career as a composer, and it is normally projects that are based within communities that drives me to work as a composer and gives me creative inspiration. 

Although you’ve worked with the Tryst before, this is your first time leading a project. What does the Tryst mean to you and to the local area?

The Tryst is immensely important to myself and to the local community. In terms of my development, they were my first professional commission and with them I have been able to develop skills, research and a passion for working as a composer within the community. The work that the Tryst completes covers such a large breadth of the community (young people, adults, students, people with Additional Support Needs) and their engagement and commitment to breaking down barriers are strong and the impact this has on participants is palpable. The Tryst's activity brings opportunities to many different people within the local area, whether that be educational, leisure, creative or business opportunities, which inherently brings people living in the East Ayrhsire Community together to celebrate their creative achievements.