Allison Loggins-Hull Inspires Wonder at DCYOP

DCYOP was honored to host Allison Loggins-Hull, acclaimed composer and flutist, for an early rehearsal of her new piece, “Wonder,” the latest piece in a series of works commissioned through the K-12 New Music Project, an initiative that seeks to diversify the student repertoire by commissioning historically excluded composers to write music specifically for elementary, middle, high school, and youth orchestras.

As she shared the inspiration for her piece, Loggins-Hull explained that she spent a lot of time thinking about what it might be like to experience an orchestra for the first time and what feelings that might inspire in a young person. “The feeling that I came up with is this feeling of wonder. It’s this idea of discovery and being young…even beyond orchestra, anytime you do anything for the first time or explore something different, especially in a group with like-minded people, there’s a really great sense of wonder. That’s the mood.”

The powerhouse composer, flutist, and producer, who is currently the Cleveland Orchestra’s eleventh Daniel R. Lewis Composer Fellow, definitely left our students feeling both wonder and awe at the opportunity to both learn directly from the source and help shape a completely new orchestral work.

“It was amazing to get to work with Allison and take part in music that’s being created right now,” shared violinist Pedro Goutay. “We’re so used to playing music by these old masters and we’re not always sure of interpretation…to have her right here to help us inform our performance was really great.”

DCYOP’s Youth Orchestra will give the world premiere of “Wonder” at its fall concert taking place December 17^th at the University of the District of Columbia’s Theater of the Arts. Watch the video below to hear directly from Loggins-Hull about the experience of working with students through the K-12 New Music Project and get a behind the scenes look at her visit, including a sneak preview of “Wonder.”