Young Composer

ARTS&LIFE

MUSIC

Young Composer Jonah Cohen mentors other young musicians as he looks forward to hearing his commissioned work performed live.

SUZANNE CHESSLER

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Jonah Cohen likes to hum but not just melodies heard on recordings or performed on stages. Often, core melodies originate in his own mind, and he hums away while developing them into full compositions.

Working with instruments and composing software, the 17-year-old senior at Interlochen Arts Academy has earned significant recognition for pieces he created.

“Vis Viva,” an example written for orchestra, was selected a winner in the Young Composers Challenge and will be recorded by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra before its performance at the NYCC Composium in April. “Hineni,” an example of a piece for cello choir, was inspired during Temple Israel services and elevated him to Merit Winner in Classical Music by the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists in the organization’s YoungArts programming.

Cohen had been looking forward to having Metro Detroiters experience a January concert that featured his first commissioned piece, but the pandemic caused a postponement with the presentation now anticipated for spring. His piece was to be played by the award-winning Akropolis Reed Quintet in a program hosted by Pro Musica of Detroit.

“I was completely overjoyed to have the privilege of writing for Akropolis,” said Cohen, commissioned by the Detroit Composers’ Project. “Akropolis is one of the real superstars in the quintet world, where reed groups are kind of a new invention.”

While looking forward to the concert, Cohen gives special attention to nonprofit programming communicated through a website he founded and directs with the participation of other Interlochen students. It’s called The NowBeat Project and promotes a platform for young composers around the world to showcase their talents.

“We’re trying to spread a wealth of experience by having teen mentors work with composers under age 16,” said Cohen, aiming for a career that includes formal presentations of his pieces combined with university teaching opportunities.

Each young composer accepted into the program, as decided by Cohen and a teacher/adviser, submits a piece later mentored and played by Interlochen students in a virtual concert offered on YouTube. The program, in its second year, has chosen 16 finalists for 2022.

COURTESY OF JONAH COHEN

A LOVE OF MUSIC

Cohen’s interest in music started when he was 6 years old as he enjoyed the results of taking piano lessons. When he was in sixth grade at Warner Middle School in Farmington Hills, the cello caught his attention with students being encouraged to play orchestral instruments.

“They were playing music that was written recently, and I thought I could do it,” he explained. “I started composing in seventh grade and went to Summer Arts Camp at Interlochen in 2019, when I had my first formal instruction in composition.

“As soon as I came home that summer, I begged my parents to let me have a private teacher and then went on to the Interlochen Academy to finish high school after two years at North Farmington.”

Cohen, the son of psychologist Dana Cohen and technology sales specialist/hobby guitarist Andrew Cohen, uses a cello gifted by a great-aunt, Californian Laurie Ordin, who had played harp and cello professionally.

“For the upcoming Pro Musica concert, I worked on a piece titled ‘Limitation and Locomotion,’ based expressly around the instruments and audience I was writing for. Because Pro Musica was going to put my piece first on

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Jonah Cohen composes on the piano. FACING PAGE: Cohen started playing the cello in sixth grade.

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ARTS&LIFE

MUSIC

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Jonah Cohen’s composition will be played during a Pro Musica concert this spring.

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the program, I wanted to create a really driving sense of motion.

“For any project, I usually start composing at the piano, thinking about rough sound texture and what I want to create with the piece. I next turn to my notation software so I can notate music online. That’s when I play around with the material the most.”

Cohen’s commissioned piece is being joined with another premiere piece as well as well-known compositions. Before The NowBeat website, Cohen designed his personal webDetails site and maintains it himself as he To get updated enters composing competitions information on the Pro through formal organizational

Musica concert, go to websites. promusicadetroit.com. “My site helps me keep track of

For information on the all the different programs I paryoung composers’ ticipated in and all the different programming, go to thenowbeatproject.org. happenings in my compositional life,” he said. “I wanted to get an early start in having a professional composer’s presence online.

“I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be working with Pro Musica if that website (jonahcohenmusic.com) didn’t exist. I intend to keep it running because that’s how opportunities present themselves, especially with this pandemic.

“When I submit my materials, I think if I don’t get first prize or honorable mention, it’s still useful because submitting my music means more people are hearing my music and hopefully will take a liking to it.”