April 29, 2021 rustlernews.com
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OLSON SPEAKS THROUGH HIS MUSIC by Madison McMurphey, staff writer Steve Olson, CMR’s orchestra director, is known for composing music. He said music is language and it’s not just a bunch of dots and lines. It translates to something meaningful. As long as you add the instriments, it pulls the emotions out of your listener. “I just think that’s one of the coolest things ever, and that you can re-create that over again and again and so on. Which happens a lot more in our art world,” he said. Olson said it is enjoyable to take an 18th Century piece and perform it today and experience it the way people did back then. One of his favorite pieces of music is “A Night on Bald Mountain” by Modest Mussorgsky. It’s an orchestral piece, and Olson -- a violinist -- played it a couple times in symphony. “It’s probably one of the pieces that got me really excited about string playing, the sounds the composer was able to achieve through the use
of traditional orchestral instruments is pretty mind blowing, and overall it’s just a really cool piece,” he said. During his senior year of high school, he said he first played “A Night on Bald Mountain,” but his first exposure to the music was in fifth grade. The time it takes him to compose music depends on what he is working on, he said, especially if he has a goal in mind and if he gets really motivated. It’s more of an inspirational thing than motivation. It speaks to him, and he can compose really fast. The toughest part of the process is publishing, he added. “It’s kinda like this interview. It will go fast but then typing it up, then publishing it and formatting and everything that is taking a long time,” Olson said. “It’s the same thing with making music.” His favorite part of his job is getting to share the excitement of music with his students and help them, but the biggest challenge with music between teacher and students is that it’s not instant. “You send a message to somebody and they get it right away. You can’t do that with music, and you can’t wait to do it at the last minute and cram it and hope that it stays there.”
Orchestra director Steve Olson, a violinist, performs with symphonies throughout the state. Photo courtesy of Steve Olson. Top left and right photos by Isabel Foley,
KITTLESON TO ATTEND MUSIC CONSERVATORY IN CINCINNATI by Taylor Willmarth, editor “I decided to play the French Horn in fourth grade when the Great Falls Symphony’s Chinook Winds quintet came to my elementary school. I absolutely fell in love with the horn player’s sound, and it didn’t hurt that he was playing the song “Let it Go “ from the movie Frozen.” Senior Hannah Kittleson is well known for her involvement with music programs at CMR, but her career in music started in the 5th grade band at Meadowlark Elementary. Aside from playing in the Symphonic Band and Jazz Band here at the school, Kittleson has performed with the Great Falls Symphony and the city band. She has performed at statewide band and orchestra festivals, and she has also been a part of the All-Northwest Band and participated in the highly competitive NYO2 festival hosted at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Kittleson credits much of her success in the arts to her supportive family. “My family is very musical and really fun to be around. My mom’s job is band instrument repair, and her primary instruments are saxophone and tuba. My brother plays tuba, and is currently studying music education,” she said. “Being in
a musical family is really important because I have a built-in duet partner and get to go to a lot of concerts.” Kittleson said that the French Horn itself has a unique history because its original purpose was for communication between hunters. Each call had a different meaning, and orchestral music often embraces the horn’s roots by incorporating calls like those of the hunters. “I wouldn’t say the instrument itself is rare, but players are because the difficulty and instability of the instrument tend to scare people off,” she said. This fall, Kittleson will attend the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio. She decided on the institution because of the rapport she has built with the horn professor there and because of its list of notable alumni. “The professor has done great things for the horn community, including commissioning works for new ranges of the instrument,” she said. “She is a very fun and inspiring person.” Kittleson said that a music conservatory functions much like other schools but offers
a deeper immersion into the arts. It consists entirely of music and performing arts students, which creates a strong sense of community. “It allows you to really focus on your major while still getting a well-rounded education,” she said. “While you still need the credits of a normal university to graduate, they are tailored to be more helpful in career-specific endeavors.” Kittleson, who will major in horn performance, will still need to meet the graduation requirements of the University of Cincinnati. However, her math credit, for example, will be fulfilled by taking classes geared toward her major such as music theory. Kittleson credits Mike Nelson, the horn player she first heard in fourth grade, and Madeleine Folkerts, her current horn teacher, for her admission into the conservatory. “In the future, my goal is to be a professional orchestral horn player and have my own teaching studio,” she said. “I may also explore the professorship route and specialize in training collegiate level horn players.” Photos courtesy of Hannah Kittleson.
