A MAP Commission Comes to Life

MAP makes its Alice Tully Hall debut May 4 with Norris’ piece and other works

By Susan Jackson

It was a rainy March Saturday when Marcus Norris arrived at Juilliard to begin his Music Advancement Program (MAP) composition residency. Norris is the third MAP composer in residence, following Valerie Coleman and James Lee III. The first order of the day was a lively Q&A with Catherine Birke, the MAP’s music director, and several dozen orchestra members, followed by Danny Felsenfeld’s class for MAP composition students. The students soon overcame their shyness, and the conversation ranged from Debussy to anime music, with questions along the way about Norris’ experience orchestrating for Beyoncé and the ensemble he founded, South Side Symphony. Then Norris entered the orchestra room, and Birke led the 90 young musicians in the piece Norris wrote for them, For All That Comes Next.

The students’ excitement was palpable as they performed—leaning in to the snaps that are part of it and cheering on the multiple soloists, many of whom were required to improvise. “It was really inspiring hearing them play it,” Norris said. “The students seemed so curious and excited to try new things. The cliché is that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But these young kids are the opposite of that—they’re hungry and interested and curious, and that can’t help but rub off on everyone around them. I loved how they weren’t averse to doing new things or uncomfortable things. ‘Improv? We’ll try it!’”

When Norris received the MAP commission, he realized that the challenge would be to create a piece that “a) works with with such a large number of people and b) is manageable for these musicians but c) still is super rewarding and sounds great when they play it,” he said. He sent an early draft to Birke, who told him it worked well, but wondered if he could go bigger in some sections. She said, “‘We have a ton of trumpets, can we give them some more playing time?’” So, he did.

“As a young composer, you learn to do the most with the least, so my first version was more economical in the orchestration,” Norris said. “But this is such a large group that I figured, even if the writing style is age-appropriate, let’s swing for the fences! And it was amazing to hear them play it.”