Young Musicians Take A Page From The Pros

12.19.23
Kapp Singer for the Arts Paper

Members of the American Modern Opera Company at Wilbur Cross High School — American Modern Opera Company musicians Jonny Allen, Doug Balliett, and and Miranda Cuckson (left to right) in Danielle Storey's chorus class at Wilbur Cross High School, Photo: Kapp Singer

...now, in our day and age, you can experiment with all sorts of things.

bassist Doug Balliett, the American Modern Opera Company

When professional bassist Doug Balliett finds himself in a creative rut, he resolves to write something as bad as he possibly can. It’s then, when he turns off the analytic part of his brain, that he ends up doing some of his best work.

Last Friday, that was exactly what high school junior Michelle Gonzalez needed to hear. “I’ve been trying to make music, but I’m scared about how it could go wrong,” said Gonzalez, a young vocalist, pianist, and drummer who has been working on playing gospel music. “But I feel motivated to just keep pushing. Now it might be bad, but in the future it will get better.”