The University of North Georgia (UNG) Department of Music awarded student Eli McAdams the Stravinsky Composition award in April for his composition "Three Conversations for Clarinet and Piano."

"Eli is an awesome student and a great addition to our UNG family. He has sought out diligently to develop his talents into skills that lead as a musician and composer. This award only reflects Eli's commitment to innovation and creativity. I am looking forward to seeing Eli continue to grow and develop," David Peoples, part-time faculty, said.

The piece was inspired by human vocal communication.

"There are different ways to use voices. They can be used together, one at a time and against one another, and that's what I explored." the Dallas, Georgia, resident said. "Each movement of the piece is a different type of conversation."

Voices in the first movement are not in agreement, but they come to some sort of agreement in the second, and by the last movement, they agree and work together, McAdams explained.

"That's where it came from, just the interplay between a piano and a soloist and seeing how I can explore that interaction to reflect the different types of conversations that we have in life," he said.

McAdams had to do some research on the mechanisms of the clarinet before composing the piece and learned important details about the sounds produced by the woodwind instrument.

He has been composing music since his freshman year and is now a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Music.

"Now I can confidently say that I write music," he said. "It's taken me a while to find out how to communicate my ideas and step outside the box."

McAdams enrolled at UNG to study the euphonium with aspirations of being a music educator. He took a semester off before returning, determined to focus on composition. He found himself more drawn to writing music than practicing it, and it proved to be his best option.

"My professors, especially Dr. Adam Frey, were super supportive of me because they saw how much I struggled to perform — a requirement for the degree, a necessary evil," he said. "Composition was the answer that fit me, my personality, my struggles in life, and everything else."

He has composed and arranged pieces for different ensembles, including UNG low brass, pep band and Frey's Summer Festival.

The 10-minute work was played at McAdams' senior recital by faculty member Mengyao Sun on the piano and student Sully Sullivan on the clarinet. Sullivan also served as inspiration for the piece.  

"I'd heard it in rehearsal, but in front of people, that's a whole different ballgame. Just to sit there and then watch the musicians get into the performance mindset and realize what they're about to play and what everybody's about to hear is something that came from me, it was a little humbling," McAdams said. "It made me feel exposed, like I'm showing everybody a part of myself. But luckily with the musicians I had access to, they killed it and they're both amazing, so it was a surreal experience."

The Stravinsky Composition Award is an interdisciplinary award open to any student at UNG enrolled in a music class at the time of their application. It was established 10 years ago through UNG's College of Arts & Letters and the UNG Foundation to encourage and recognize innovative and creative music composition.

"We do not give the award lightly. There has only been one winner in the past, with multiple honorable mentions," Peoples said.