Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Rimkus. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Sarah, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
In 2018, I was commissioned to write a piece for a choir in the Seattle area called The Esoterics, a group that performs a cappella choral works with a focus on striking texts and complex musical technique. Since I am originally from the Seattle area, I was excited to work with a group so close to home, especially one with such a specific and strong creative vision. The theme for the concert was “the secular requiem” – comfort and consolation for loss, but totally outside of any religious perspective.
In searching for a meaningful theme for my piece, after some back and forth with the director of the ensemble, I looked to local ideas and history. In 1942, there was a thriving community of Japanese and Japanese American people in my hometown of Bainbridge Island, WA, who were the first to be incarcerated in the Japanese Exclusion during WWII. I felt a piece telling this story could tell a powerful story of loss of agency and identity, but I wanted to do it in an authentic way with input from those who had actually experienced this. I went to our local history museum and asked a couple of volunteers working if they knew any survivors who I could speak to; one of them said, “you can talk to me, they took me away when I was seven.” Her name was Lilly Kitamoto Kodama, and a few days later I interviewed her about her experiences. She also suggested I speak to Kay Sakai Nakao, who was 22 years old in 1942 and had very strong memories of the time. I interviewed her as well.
I compiled quotes from the interviews to create the text for my choral piece. Kay spoke at length about the importance of telling the story of what happened to them, in the interest of it never happening again. I chose to focus on this idea in my piece – the power of telling your story and the possibility for catharsis in this. I divided up the text such that the choir told the narrative of the story, using different versions of one stark chord progression and textures created by repeating words, while a lone soloist gave more of the emotional commentary with soaring melodies.
The piece was premiered in the fall of 2018, and Kay and Lilly were both able to attend. It was a truly special occasion and very well-received. The piece has been performed across the country and in the UK since then.
Kay passed away in 2020 at the age of 100. I send 50% of my sales royalties from the piece to the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am a composer who writes music for both instruments and voices. My work often explores themes such as communication, belonging, and relationship to the environment through use musical layering and contradiction. I have been influenced by many different types of music, from Balkan and Scandinavian folk traditions to choral music of the early Renaissance. Much of my music is for choir. My music has been performed extensively across the United States, the United Kingdom and beyond, and I have been commissioned by ensembles from many different musical walks of life.
As is the case with many composers, my musical journey began with piano lessons. I began taking piano lessons at age six and continued through much of high school, when I became more focused on composing. By the time I was a teenager, I was more interested in the inner workings of music and the creation of my own than the performance of others’ works. I studied composition as an undergraduate at the University of Southern California, and I have devoted my career to composition ever since. After leaving USC, I knew I wanted to focus on choral music because of my love of writing for the voice and attraction to working with text. I went to the University of Aberdeen in Scotland for my masters and PhD, where I was able to focus on choral music and absorb the great British choral tradition. I completed my PhD in 2019.
As a composer, a big part of my work is creating commissioned pieces with various ensembles. Ensembles commission composers to create pieces specifically for them. There is a strong tradition of performing and commissioning new works in the choral world in particular, including among non-professional groups such as community choruses and volunteer church choirs. I work with ensembles to create pieces which are designed for their performers’ strengths and create a meaningful experience for them, particularly through careful and creative choices of themes and texts in close collaboration with the conductor or performers.
I take pride in having a strong point of view as a composer. I use layering of harmonies and textures in my own way to set up the musical drama of my works and illuminate ideas and stories which are important to me. I strive to bring this same point of view and the same dedication to a meaningful musical experience to every single project I do, whether the music is for a solo professional performer or a community chorus of over 100 people.
Another important part of being a composer is the sale of existing pieces to performers. I self-publish a great deal of my work, and performers can purchase the music via pdf download on my website.
I am also passionate about teaching music, particularly composition. I dialogue with my students to help them find the most important ideas in their work and what they want out of it, alongside musicianship and listening exercises. I currently teach as an instructor in music composition at Michigan Technological University, and I also teach piano at Saint Paul School of Music and Cadenza Music in the Twin Cities.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
For me, one of the most important personal qualities for growing my network and portfolio as a composer has been honesty.
Music is a highly collaborative art form, and therefore personal networking is paramount, arguably even more so than in other industries. Striking a balance between being professional and being personable is often important. However, in my experience, coming across in a genuine way to those you interact with is crucial to networking in music. Musicians want to get to know composers in a real way in order to determine whether you would be a good fit to work with for their personal style and creative interests. I believe that being honest – both with others and with yourself – about who you are, your strengths, your interests, and your creative, professional and personal goals, is truly the only way to sustain a career as any type of artist over the long-term, especially while maintaining your own mental health and personal life.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
As a composer, I take inspiration from all kinds of sources, but a common thread throughout my work has been communication and communication failure. With the information technology available to us now, communication skills and interpretation of information is even more important than ever before, and I think struggles in communication are something that people from many different backgrounds can relate to. For me personally, I think that this thread runs throughout my work because of my experiences growing up with my brother, who has a learning disability that makes it very difficult for him to process language. It opened my eyes acutely to different communication styles of different people, and seeing him grow up to be a thriving, hard-working and successful adult has been an inspiration.
Not only do I tend to seek out texts for my choral works which play off of these themes, but I see them infused into my musical style itself. I often use the words of a piece in unconventional ways, creating sounds that that may make it a little difficult to understand every word of the music, but illuminate the ideas in the music and text overall. I also layer different harmonies and textures that sometimes seem to contradict each other or not quite belong together. This is a big part of how I create the narratives in my music. I have continued to build and expand upon these ideas over my many years as a composer, and it has helped me grow and evolve my style.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.sarahrimkus.com/
- Instagram: @sarah_rimkus
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.rimkus.7/
- Twitter: @sarahrimkus
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHAQuPjIZLpg5U1cT_BDC0g
Image Credits
Remy Tait, Sabrina Leigh