California composer visits Galway

Photo by Meaghan Whalen

Erik Matthews and Molly Ryan, EMC Staff Writers

“Everybody should take a chance.”

Mr. Darryl Johnson II, composer, came to Galway on Wednesday, February 15th, and shared the above quote and many other inspiring ideas. Mr. Johnson helped the Galway Senior and Junior High concert bands perform pieces he composed. The Senior High band is playing the piece titled “A Game of Chance,” and the Junior High band is playing the piece titled “The Pride of the Lion.”Mr. Johnson felt that both bands did very well with his pieces.

Mr. Johnson was led into his music career by professors that encouraged him to work with music composition. He was commissioned by several schools around California to write “A Game of Chance,” and that was his direct inspiration for the piece. His other inspiration was to write a piece that included 12-bar blues and improvisation. He was interested in the presentation of the 12-bar blues but in different ways. There are different sections in “A Game of Chance” that portray different scenes such as funhouses, war, and marching horses — and all of these include 12-bar blues.

Johnson attended Azusa Pacific University in California and has been to 24 states to teach schools about music composition so far. By the end of May, he will have visited 42 overall. Johnson enjoys listening to basic pop music, as well as scores from different films like “Big Fish” and even the Dreamworks movie “Over the Hedge,” and his favorite composer is Tchaikovsky. In the future, Johnson would like to continue encouraging music composition in schools and would like to use music in different, inventive ways.

For anyone who would like to pursue a career in music, Johnson said that there are three steps to doing so. The first step is looking at books and doing research. The second step is finding a mentor to guide you along your journey. The third and final step is creating a plan of action and how to get to your final goal. Johnson also said that you should practice daily in what you specialize in to improve little by little every single day.

We would like to thank Mr. Johnson for coming to Galway, and we wish him luck with any future endeavors that he may want to pursue.