Maestro in the Making: Little Composer Hits Big Notes

JP Redmond is only 12-years old, but the young piano player and composer—a possible Mozart in training—might be just as curious as he is musically talented.

Take this exchange with his teacher from the Concordia Conservatory of Music and Art, Dr. Matt Van Brink, for example:

Dr. Matt Van Brink: JP is totally uninhibited… 

JP Redmond: What exactly does that mean? 

Van Brink: It means there is no filter between your musical ideas in your head and how they come out in your fingers.

Redmond: Really?

Van Brink: Yes, you’re good at that. And my job is to amplify those ideas once they come out of his head.

Next question – How does the music theory part of Redmond’s education fit into the music he has been able to create. 

Van Brink: It’s almost a contradiction. A true artist doesn’t really care about theory; he can break rules. But the opposite is true too. A true artist knows the rules pretty well before he starts stepping all over them. 

Redmond: Have I ever stepped over a rule?

Van Brink: (laughs) Yes. Beautifully.

Redmond: Like what? In my compositions, can you give me an example of how I stepped over a rule?

Van Brink: Oh my goodness, that’s a technical question... I think some of your chord progressions are totally wild.

That musical curiosity may explain why this 12-year old is a virtuoso. Redmond, born in 1999 in Newport Beach, California, moved to New York with his family in 2003. Four years later, at age seven, he began taking piano lessons with Dr. Marija Ilic at Concordia. Before long, teachers and faculty began seeing—and hearing—something special in the polite and friendly boy from Hastings on Hudson. Director of Concordia Conservatory Kathleeen Suss remembers first being introduced to Redmond, saying “from that moment we saw sparks of amazing talent.”

It also didn’t take long for Redmond’s teachers to realize that his musical talents went beyond what he was able to do sitting in front of a piano, ultimately leading him to the 33-year-old Van Brink, who for the last two years has taught Redmond once a week in the disciplines of music theory and composition.

“It’s special,” said Dr. Van Brink about someone of Redmond’s age wanting to create their own music. “Certainly not all musicians have the drive to compose, and even when they do they don’t always know what to do with it. There were definitely some pieces in his head. My job is to help him bring them out.”

Under Van Brink’s tutelage, and using a computer program called “Finale” – which helps him get from the “sketchpad” stage of composition to a more professional looking score – Redmond began creating his own pieces of music, first only for piano, and then for both piano and violin. 

He even began submitting his pieces to regional and national competitions, something Van Brink always encourages his students to do.

“Out there in the music world there are calls for scores and competitions that us teachers and composers hear about,” he said. “So whenever I find one that’s appropriate for one of my young students I pass them along. But only one of my students jumps on all of them, and that’s JP.”

So when last December Redmond put the finishing touches on what he knew was a “special” piece, one he named “Clock and Bird’s Peaceful Talk,” he immediately sent it out, and did the only thing he could after that: wait, and hope.

“Speaking as an experienced composer, when you send something out to things like this you never know what they’re looking for,” Van Brink said. “You hope your piece matches what they’re looking for and you hope you’re good enough. Sometimes you never know.”

As it turns out – and to no real surprise to the teachers and faculty at Concordia – Redmond’s piece was good enough, and maybe even a little bit more, earning the twelve-year-old two national level accolades. The three-minute “Clock and Bird’s Peaceful Talk” was the National Federation of Music Clubs’ Junior Composers Contest Northeast Region and Incentive Award Winner, as well as the Composers Concordance’s “Generations” Composition Competition in New York in the 20 & Under category.

More locally, the piece was selected by the Composers Concordance for a performance on the concert series in New York City in March. Redmond has also played a number of his pieces at Concordia recitals throughout this past year, and is an active member in the chamber music and musical theatre programs at the Conservatory, performing in three music productions and three chamber music festivals since 2008. 

Outside of his music ventures, Redmond is not unlike any other child his age. His hobbies include hiking, going on bike rides, cooking, model cars and trains, reading, and watching good movies. It’s safe to say that music is something he intends to continue pursuing as passionately and eagerly as he always has, however, although what style he will grow up to specialize in – and not all too inconceivably become known for – has yet to be determined. 

“I’d say it’s too early to tell,” Van Brink said. “He’s composing a lot of what he hears around him, and some things that he hasn’t heard yet. He has an extremely well balanced musical appetite. He becomes excited and engaged with anything I send his way: Beethoven, Coltrane, Stravinsky, Messiaen…”

Just your every day 12-year old…