Everett High School senior wins The University of Olivet’s High School Composition Competition
High school senior Jem Parkhill’s composition At the Heart of the Tower won the competition and will be recorded and performed by The University of Olivet Honor Band.
Jem Parkhill did not initially set out to submit their musical composition At the Heart of the Tower to any competitions. But, according to an article posted on The University of Olivet’s website, that idea was presented to them during the writing of the piece. Talking about that spark, Jem said, “I remember getting that text about the composition competition and thinking, ‘Wait a second — maybe I should finish this and submit it.’”
As it turned out, that decision paid off for Jem. The Everett High School senior was recently named as the winner of The University of Olivet’s High School Composition Competition. As a result, Jem was awarded with a $2,000 music scholarship, and a performance of their piece.
The University of Olivet Honor Band will record and perform At the Heart of the Tower this fall. Jem will be eligible for the $2,000 music scholarship if they decide to pursue a degree at the University of Olivet.
By training, Jem is a saxophonist, and spent their entire high school experience deeply involved in music. Jem was a participant in their high school marching band for their four year stint at Everett, as well as symphonic band, concert band, and jazz band. Along the way, music composition became a meaningful creative outlet for the student.
Jem describes their composition, At the Heart of the Tower, as inspired by both video game music and orchestra. They went on to say that the composition was created using both inspiration from contemporary composers of video game music as well as an exploration into music theory.
Jem spoke about using the idea of musical modes as part of the creative process, saying, “One of the ways I started the piece was experimenting with brighter and darker versions of musical modes, I took the Dorian mode and used a brighter variation of it for some of the main motifs.”
Musical modes are a method of arranging the same set of notes in order to evoke a new set of emotions and moods. Some modes can feel reflective or mysterious, while some feel dark and sad, and others can feel energetic and bright. The Dorian mode, which Jem used for portions of At the Heart of the Tower, is usually evocative of the cinematic and soulful sounds of jazz, video game music, and film scores.
Jem named a group of composers they find to be inspirations to their work, including American video game composer Toby Fox, who created the Undertale and Deltarune soundtracks, and Japanese composer Jun Ishikawa, best known for his work in the Kirby series of video games.
Speaking highly of Ishikawa, Jem said, “The way Jun Ishikawa uses chord progressions and melodies is really inspiring to me.”
Even as the time it took Jem to create the composition was around a month, Jem also noted that, for them, the process of writing feels more immersive than structured. They said, “people always ask how long it takes me to write music, and honestly, sometimes I can’t remember because I’m just in the zone.”
When not composing music, Jem also performs music live, and plans to keep following their musical passions into a college career and beyond. They mentioned a desire to study music education, film scoring, composition, or performance.
When asked about their future plans they mused, “I’ve always wanted to compose for video games. But recently I’ve also been thinking about film scores. I’d love to explore that more.”
On the topic of potentially teaching music at some point in the future, they said, “I love teaching people about music. I’m just such a nerd about it.”
Even Lewis serves as the director of bands at The University of Olivet, and was impressed with many of the compositions that came across his desk for the contest. He said, “I have been working with student composers for years, but this is the first time I’ve had the privilege of viewing this many works at such a high level.”
On the winning composition, he said, “Jem’s work, in particular, shows a grasp of music theory and musical design that goes well beyond what I would expect to see from a High School student. I look forward to preparing and conducting their work this fall.”
The University of Olivet’s High School Composition Competition was designed to recognize and encourage student composers as they move forward into a higher education landscape, while also giving them the chance to hear their work performed by musicians at the collegiate level. More information about Olivet’s music program can be found on its webpage.
More information about The University of Olivet in general can be found at the school’s website.