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Sam Austin is a scientist who loves music, and David Biedenbender is a musician who loves science. They have formed a partnership over their mutual desire to broaden audiences for new music while creating opportunities for Michigan State University College of Music student composers.

New music in the college – the composing, workshopping, recording, and sharing of original works – strengthened greatly in 2015 and 2016 when the Composition Area hired four new tenure stream faculty, broadening the expertise available to student composers and creating a nurturing environment to cultivate their skills.

Since then, the creation of the MSU Federal Credit Union Entrepreneurial Musical Artist in Residence endowment has led to professional ensembles like Imani Winds (who have visited MSU twice) workshopping, mentoring, and networking with MSU students. The Sam and Mary Austin Fund for New Music in the college is now in full swing, taking this focus to the next level.

“I have a strong interest in physics, and, as a physicist, Sam is interested in cutting edge science. So we thought, what is cutting-edge music?” said Biedenbender, associate professor of composition. “Sam and Mary come to concerts together religiously, and they are very involved in the fund’s goals. They care deeply about supporting the creation, performance, study, and discussion of new music on campus and engaging a broader community around new music.”

Biedenbender explained that to build audiences for new music, you have to create opportunities for people to participate multiple times. And for Biedenbender, this is achieved by developing trust, the type of trust he sees people regularly placing on other kinds of art.

“I want people to come to Sam and Mary Austin Fund events and be open to new music, and I like to think of it like this,” he explained. “When you go to see a new movie, you're not going to the theater to see a new Charlie Chaplin film. You are going to see something new. Just like a new movie coming out, you don't know what you are going to hear at a new music concert. We want people to simply come and be open. That's one of the things we're trying to cultivate.”

Sam knew he and Mary had found a great partner in Biedenbender, who shared their motivation to increase the non-specialist audience for new music. The fund they created three years ago has laid the groundwork to bring contemporary music to MSU and the Greater Lansing area, and now they have extended their support for an additional 20 years. 

This generous extension will allow the ongoing expansion of Musique 21 performances, public performances by guest artists or of compositions by guest composers, commissioning new works for performance by College of Music ensembles, and presentations by visiting artists, students, and faculty.
 

The Austin Fund has enabled the creation of Fanfare, a program led by MSU Director of Orchestras Octavio Más-Arocas in which the MSU Symphony Orchestra premieres a new work composed by an MSU student at the start of orchestra concerts. The fund has also expanded opportunities for the public to participate in guest artist readings of student compositions. Given the community spirit of the fund, members of the community are able to add contributions to expand the effort.

Sam, the scientist, relates to Biedenbender’s Charlie Chaplin analogy. Whether film, science, or new music, both believe we need to learn from but grow beyond the past.

“We always revere the old masters,” Sam said. “For example, one of the great scientists was Newton with his three laws. Of course, we use them, but if I were to give a presentation about Newton’s Laws now, no one would listen to it. In other words, we build. We use the masters as a basis and build on it.”

Sam Austin is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics & Astronomy and NSCL/FRIB. He officially retired from MSU in 2000 but worked regularly until about 2018. His long and distinguished career has given him ample time to become engaged in local music, including with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. Through their personal experiences, he and Mary want people to know that they do not need to be fearful of new music. 

Experimental composers are making music, and such intellectual stimulation has an audience. In Sam’s view, however, most new composers are writing pieces these days that celebrate the traditions and incorporate new and personal ideas. Creating and listening to new music does not mean throwing away the old. It means building on it, like in science and other art forms. 

“I think the new breed of composer is different,” Sam said. “Some people listen to what they’ve always listened to, and that’s fine. Many people do not change quickly. So, to earn their trust, I think you have to make relatively small changes. That’s what the present generation does very well. They’re making a smaller break with the past, but it’s different music, and interesting.”

Composition Area faculty have been able to bring in six ensembles in the past two years to do readings and then workshop and record student compositions. This, plus the opportunity to network with these professionals, has been a tremendous boon for students at MSU. 

“Our goal is to bring as much new music to campus as possible through visiting composers and performers and to leverage and collaborate across the areas to do as much as possible,” Biedenbender explained. “Students get a recording of their music, and it sounds great! Based on those recordings and workshops, students have won competitions and been accepted into prestigious summer festivals.” 

The high-level professionals the Austin Fund has brought to campus bring prestige, putting MSU composition on par with top composition programs. While it remains a work in progress, the Austin Fund has MSU on its way. As Sam put it, “Even Stravinsky had a hard time breaking through at first.”

“We are starting to see the synergies we can create,” Biedenbender said. “People hear new music and understand that the Austin Fund is enormously helpful. It has already transformed our program.”
 

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Learn more about upcoming New Music concerts this season.

To support New Music at MSU, please contact the College of Music Advancement Office at (517) 353-9872.