2023 in Review: A Year of Progress

Welcome to the first post of the new year! I want to use this moment to recap some of the accomplishments and progress from 2023.

This year has pushed me far beyond what I could have imagined. Coming into 2023, I have put a lot of pressure on myself when composing. I was just over halfway through my undergraduate program and felt that I had an unachievable amount to learn and a lot to prove. So, I decided 2023 was going to be the year that I went outside of my comfort zone and pushed myself to write as much as I could. I stopped thinking analytically and started following to music in my head. I took the pressure off my shoulders by setting tasks with each piece. This method also lets me add new devices to my toolbox. I began to hear new harmonies and explore new techniques that I had not used before. I also started writing faster and produced more compositions this year than I had in the past.

With that great amount of progress, I want to acknowledge some setbacks I had throughout the year.  One of the biggest was my graduate school applications. Don’t get me wrong, I know all the effort of applying (and hopeful acceptance) will help advance my career and expand my already growing knowledge (and the time it took to prepare my portfolio was great at catching up on disregarded engraving work). On the other hand, it took A LOT of time out of my fall semester and stole me away from other composition projects. Also, during the year, I had some health issues, which also did not help with time and motivation. However, those a mostly resolved now and I can go into the new year without that distraction.

To wrap up this 2023 review, here are the greatest hits (the public ones, that is):

String Quartet No. 1

I.    Wandering

II.   Dance of the Woodland Creatures

Outdrawn (Rescore) – Indie Film Music Contest Summer ‘23

Epic, from Star Trek: The Final Frontier

and many others I cannot disclose at this moment 😉

As for my goals for 2024, that will be something I also will not be disclosing. I am a firm believer that if you tell the world your plans, the universe will laugh at you. So, I will keep things quiet. But know that I will tell you about the past in the future.

Until next time,

Rita Veneziale

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