Welcome to Alphabet Soup Music!

We warmly welcome you to Alphabet Soup, a place where we ask questions such as, Is it enough to write music? What are we, as composers, doing to make the world a better place? Do politics have a place in music, either in its creation or dissemination?  While we don’t presume to be able to answer any of these questions with finality or authority, we do hope to explore them and many other topics in this blog, a forum to discuss all things relating to new music and the world of composition. We will try to offer different perspectives and ideas, exploring the field of composition from as many angles as possible—new music from A to Z, as well as from Z to A and everything else outside, in between, and upside down. 

We encourage you to participate with your feedback, discussions, ideas, and questions.

Why blog about new music?

We are currently living in a culturally precarious time in the United States.  Orchestras are steadily losing membership, the record industry is giving way to the vastly un-chartered and unregulated world of internet downloading and sales, music programs are increasingly disappearing from public education, and our cultural and political leaders continue to emphasize math, science, and technology in favor of the arts and humanities.  There could not be a more urgent time to come to terms with our personal and national musical identities, to discuss the many facets of our complex musical world, and to eventually offer insight and ideas for the future.

Why are we blogging about new music?

In our lives as composers, we have encountered the same questions time and again:  Why is this important?  What is good, and who decides?  What is new music? And, most importantly, Why should anyone outside of the music world care?  

While countless new music blogs and forums exist, it is our goal that Alphabet Soup will have its own voice.  We hope to offer a fresh perspective on the many issues surrounding new music and the world of composition in the 21^st century.  As young female composers just beginning our careers, we won’t be discussing new music through the eyes of the establishment because we are anything but established. Alphabet Soup will be a space in which we can offer our opinions, hopes, and fears in an effort to both gain some perspective on the musical issues that consume our days as well as share our common experiences in solidarity with others in similar situations.

Although the composition world has many opportunities for women and has advanced substantially in its egalitarian practices in the last century, there is still a vast amount of room for cultural improvement.  While gender is not the main point of this blog, it cannot (and will not) be ignored.  The realities of gender politics and culture are something that we both have experienced first-hand and in countless ways.  Our politics are inevitably affected by our lives, and our writings will reflect our experiences.

And finally… who are we?

We are Natalie Draper and Sarah Hersh, two goofy-yet-hard-working composers who enjoy thinking about and discussing new music in addition to writing it.  We share a deep love of music with an appreciation for holistic thinking, equal opportunities, and active engagement in our communities.  We invite you to visit our respective websites to learn more about us and our music.