Finalist for Morton Gould Award

Another spot of good news:  The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recognized me as a Finalist for the Morton Gould Young Composer Awards for my submission of "Reason for Hope in a Complex World."

(posted at http://www.olivercaplan.com/news/)

Thoughts Following a Presentation at Assets School

On March 31 I gave a presentation on Reason for Hope in Complex World to fifth and sixth graders at Assets School in Honolulu.  The students were particularly fascinated with the printed score and I've been thinking about this barrier between kids and their own musical ideas.  Children are among the most natural melody-smiths, skipping down the sidewalk making up songs left and right.  But no one teaches them how to write their ideas down, let alone even that it's a possibility.  We are taught to right, to draw, to paint, to make pottery and even to play music - but not to write it.  What would the next generation of compositions be like if we could begin to recognize, harness and develop musical talent early ages, when it is already coursing through our veins?