By creating works that are essentially decorations of other artists’ texts, do we give up too much artistic freedom? — What’s up, people. Miggy Torres here. In my previous article, we discussed two aesthetic problems that traditional text setting presents — namely, That information in the original text is lost upon musical recontextualization, and How the axiom of serving the text is inherently in conflict with both the unknowability of…

The act of text setting is a ubiquitous part of the choral compositional process, but does it present æsthetic problems? — What’s up, people. Miggy Torres here. I’m officially calling out text setting as problematic. You heard me: text setting is cancelled! Just kidding. BUT. I did want to talk a little bit about some issues regarding text setting that have been rolling around in my head for a while, as…

What “default settings” do we use in our music, and how can we be sure we’re making deliberate artistic choices? — What’s up, people. Miggy Torres here. In Part 1 of this sub-series on default settings in the creative process, we discussed how product and process are inextricably intertwined. …

Do “default settings” in the creative process affect the structure of the final work? Are product and process the same thing? — What’s up, people. Miggy Torres here. In this two-part sub-series, I want to share with you some ideas I had about default settings in the compositional process. So basically—Well. I guess — hold on. Let me back up for a sec. Okay so. A few years ago, one of my…

You wanna know the secret to writing good choral music? Stop writing choral music. — What’s up, people. Miggy Torres here. I wanted to take some time and talk a little bit about some of the things that I think about when I’m considering “honing the craft” when it comes to choral music. You know, maybe it’s not even “craft”? Maybe it’s like… artistry? I…

The True Future of Choral Music — Author’s note: The What Can Choral Music Be? project has grown and a new home! Check it out on miggytorres.com. Cheers! What’s up, people. Miggy Torres here. Question: Do you like choral music? Do you like composing choral music? Do you like singing choral music? Do you like conducting choral music? Do you like…