Music for many people leaves a lasting impression. The lyrics, the melody, the overall sound can stir memories and create stories.
But for Vassili Makavos, a second year composition and vocal performance major, music is more than just a melody and a bunch of notes strung together. Makavos has the rare condition Synesthesia, where he sees color with sound. The key of C for Vassili shows the color purple, the key of G shows orange/red and the key of A shows blue.
“It’s a mixing of the senses,” Makavos says.
His condition is what ultimately led him to write his composition, Bassoon Concerto No. 1.
“I was inspired by Blaké Blackman’s watercolor paintings,” Makavos says. “Last year we lived in the dorm together on Center Complex, and every week she would come knocking on my door and ask me for music. One day I went up to ask her a question about the bassoon and she had three paintings on her door. And I was like ‘Okay, I have a concerto for you Blaké.’”
“He really just kind of spazzed out, and my roommate and I asked him if he was okay, and he just kept going on about all these different melodies,” Blackman, a music performance major, says.
“When I saw the colors on the paintings, to me this was the music right here. I said give me a year. I know exactly what it is, I just need time to transcribe your paintings onto paper,” Makavos says.
That’s exactly what Makavos did. He took a month off in the summer, and on June 16, sat down in his room for three and half to four hours to write his concerto.
“I took the first painting and wrote down the music. Then I took the second painting and the third painting and did the same thing,” Makavos says.
In August, Makavos began tweaking his composition and met with composer Mark Grey for advice about his concerto.
“I brought the paintings. I showed him a sketch I had of the whole work and he went through it and said it had a lot of toggle work, but he was the catalyst in my mind to actually try and perform the piece,” Makavos says. “He said ‘I think this is a great piece. I think you should go for it if you just work around some things.’ ”
“In August, [Makavos] was ecstatic. It was cool seeing a friend get so excited about music. He went all out with posters and flyers asking for players and percussionists. It’s cool how [the piece] affected him and his confidence,” says Blackman.
The piece was originally written especially for Blackman to perform, but her teacher recommended a master student take on the project.
“There were certain things technique-wise Blaké wouldn’t be able to do at this point in time,” Makavos says.
“My teacher said I like the idea of you playing with the piece but I want you to focus on your studies right now,” Blackman says.
Martin Van Klompenburg, a master bassoon player, took up the challenge.
“I have never gotten the opportunity to perform with an orchestra as a soloist, and I was really excited to work with a piece from the ground up,” Klompenburg says. “I started working on it in November and have been gradually been working more and more on it as its neared completion.”
Now as the semester comes to an end, Makavos’ concerto will be performed for all to hear and see.
“I want the audience to come and sit down, and they’re not necessarily going to see the title of the piece but they’re going to see the first movement’s painting. Everybody in the orchestra will be wearing some color that relates to one of the paintings,” Makavos says.
“So the idea is that the audience will actually get to see these beautiful paintings, they’ll see the orchestra that’s actually playing the music so in a way it’s kind of like a visual thing, not just music. It’s one of the greatest inspirations I’ve ever had being in college,” Makavos says.
If you go:
Composition Studio Recital
Monday, April 6
7:30 p.m.
KATZIN Hall in The School of Music on Gammage Parkway
Free to the public
Reach the reporter theresa.dillon@asu.edu.
