When Frost School student Winston Thayer finished last spring’s Rock Symphonic, the massive student concert blending pop and orchestral music that he co-created and produced, he and the other student musicians were thrilled at what they’d just achieved – a first of its kind event that drew a large, wildly enthusiastic audience to Gusman Concert Hall, and congratulations from faculty and donors.
“We had all had so much fun,” said Thayer, who co-created Rock Symphonic with fellow Frost School student Dawson Fuss. “The moment it wrapped, everyone talked about how excited they were to do it again.”
Do it again they have. Rock Symphonic returns on Tuesday, April 29, with more Frost School student musicians, student arrangers, music by students, and more support from faculty and leadership. Thayer and Fuss’s ambitious, outside-the-box idea, an entirely student-run concert of pop-rock bands with a classical orchestra, already looks like a Frost School tradition in the making - a real-life exercise in creativity, collaboration, and resourcefulness.
“I took lessons from running and arranging that concert that I will use for the rest of my career,” said Thayer, a junior in Media Scoring and Production. “It was such a cool experience and amazing learning opportunity, and it’s great to pass that on to other people.”
A huge part of the Rock Symphonic experience is the excitement students feel at creating and producing an event of this scale on their own.
“This can happen because everyone is passionate about doing this,” said Fuss, a singer-songwriter and performer in the Modern Artist Development and Entrepreneurship (M.A.D.E.) program. He said performing on Rock Symphonic last year was one of his best experiences at the Frost School. “No one is doing it for a grade or for credit. Everyone is doing it because they love to do it.”
“People have finals the day after the concert,” said Thayer. “I have my jury the morning after. This works because people want to do it, and you can feel that energy during the concert.”
This year’s Rock Symphonic features five contemporary student groups, up from three last year. They are all-female hard rockers Skyrise, folk-pop-electro singer-songwriter Maeve, indie folk-psychedelic rockers Rug, funk/soul group Puddley, and R&B/rap artist Che AM. The 34-piece orchestra includes both jazz and classical musicians, many from the elite Stamps Scholars ensembles and the Henry Mancini Institute. Instead of just Thayer and his chief collaborator Jennifer Phan, another Media Scoring and Production major, writing the arrangements, they’ve added six more arrangers from multiple programs, who’ve been given more creative leeway in how they unite bands and orchestra. They include Walker Klauda, who is also conducting; and Asher Lurie, a composition major graduating this year who won a school competition to compose for the All-Stamps Ensemble earlier this spring. There’ll be a grand piano onstage, backup singers, and a classical vocalist joining Che AM.
Last year, Thayer and Fuss spent the fall semester trying to persuade skeptical faculty that they could pull off their ambitious idea. It wasn’t until early winter, when they approached Dean Shelton G. Berg, who quickly gave them the go-ahead, that they were able to start working on the show.
This time around, teachers were happy to help. A faculty panel chose the student groups and additional arrangers.
“It took a lot of convincing to get the adults on our side,” Fuss said. “But once it happened, they started talking about how we can make it better this year and get more people involved.”
Another exhilarating aspect of Rock Symphonic has been the way it has brought together students from multiple music genres and programs, including M.A.D.E, the Creative American Songwriting Program, Media Scoring and Production, Music Engineering, and Composition, to work together.
“I’m so happy we can run our 100% volunteer concert with people who have such a collaborative spirit,” said Thayer, who’s also worked on the student-created “A Very Frosty Christmas” holiday album. “One of the greatest gifts that’s come out of Rock Symphonic is finding so many people who have their own ideas and musicianship to work on it.”
Another big piece of news for Rock Symphonic is the release of a live recording of last year’s show, which is streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. That’s meant more learning-by-doing as the team figured out complex publishing and copyright issues. But it’s also prepared them to record and release this year’s event, with faculty praising the students for creating a roadmap for similar recording projects in the future.
“I’ve been in talks with faculty members about this process, and everyone keeps saying this is great because this will open the door for other students to do this,” said Thayer.
Fuss, a senior, graduates in May, while Thayer, a junior, graduates next spring. But they are working to ensure that RockSymphonic will continue after they leave.
“The goal is for Rock Symphonic to be an annual thing and grow every year,” said Fuss. “So when people think about Frost, they also think about Rock Symphonic, and this multi-genre collaborative project becomes a staple of the Frost School of Music.”
If you go: Rock Symphonic is at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, April 29 at Gusman Concert Hall, 1314 Miller Dr., Coral Gables. Admission is free. Go here for information and to reserve tickets.
