Meet the Student: Q&A with Composer Leigha Amick

Leigha Amick, from Boulder, Colorado, entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2021 and studies composition with Richard Danielpour, Nick DiBerardino, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Amy Beth Kirsten, and Steven Mackey. All students at Curtis receive merit-based, full-tuition scholarships, and Ms. Amick is the Jimmy Brent Fellow.

Before coming to Curtis, you studied composition at Indiana University and completed minors in mathematics and electronic music. What led you to pursue a career as a classical composer?

I’ve been making up melodies ever since I can remember, but it was in middle school when I realized that I could major in composition at music summer camp, so I wrote a string orchestra piece, took composition lessons at summer camp, and then sought out further opportunities to compose once I returned home.

How did your interest in electronics arise?

At IU, electronic music was one of the courses from which we could choose to fulfill a graduation requirement. I took it to fulfill the requirement, but promptly fell in love with how many parameters of music and sound I could use to sculpt an electronic piece, so I added it as a minor.

What/who inspires you as a composer?

I find inspiration in math and patterns, the natural world, and how technology shapes our lives. Musically, I love Bach, Richard Strauss, and Ligeti, just to name a few. Outside of classical music, I spent a lot of time with Irish traditional music through playing in live sessions and through competing in Irish dance.

What do you look forward to most in your graduate studies here at Curtis?

One of the best parts about being at Curtis is the chance to collaborate with such incredible classmates. It’s a joy to make music with people who are not only technically brilliant but also are thoughtful musicians and great people. I also love the opportunity to work with the full orchestra each year!

You are a violinist, a soprano, and an opera and instrumental composer, but what other interests do you have beyond your musical endeavors?

I grew up in Colorado and spent a lot of time hiking and skiing in the mountains, and for many years I competed in Irish step dance. I no longer dance, so these days when I’m not in the mountains I enjoy weightlifting, reading, and baking sourdough.

Discussions about gender disparity and racial justice have advanced efforts to bring more diversity to classical music and amplify female and non-binary voices, but progress has been slow. What are your thoughts on the current climate of women in composition, and what do you hope listeners will take away from experiencing your music?

My hope is that we as listeners, audience-goers, and programmers of music can hear, appreciate, and program music by all people without gender bias. I feel grateful that ever since I was a little girl, my parents supported my interest in composition and I think that one of the most important ways to create change in this area is for young people to be offered the encouragement, opportunity, and mentorship to compose regardless of background or gender.

Visit Leigha Amick’s official website HERE. Photography by Kirsten Boyer.