MANSFIELD – Students in the honors band at Richland Academy of the Arts will have the unique opportunity to perform a concert written entirely by one of their peers.
The band’s July 13 show will be the public premiere of five original compositions written by 18-year-old Wyatt Boggs, an upcoming senior at Clear Fork High School. Boggs wrote the concert pieces, and will conduct them as well.
It’s an impressive feat, but not a new accomplishment for Boggs. His first time composing a piece for his classmates came back in seventh grade.
“It was really … how do I put this … you could tell it was my first piece,” Boggs said with a laugh. “I asked my band director if I could do a little experiment for the band. At the time I was really into the hardcore metal screaming, and I thought it would be cool to see how it crossed over to the wind band.”
Since then Boggs has been composing, conducting, performing, and teaching at Richland Academy of the Arts. He has served as the school’s instructor for drum lessons since November 2015, as a sophomore.
“I thought I was pretty good for a 10th grader, and I like teaching, I like explaining stuff,” Boggs said. “I just kept sending them my resume until they called me back.”
Boggs’ composition work has also earned national attention. Last year, he was named the winner of the Wind Ensemble category of the Azusa Pacific University/J. W. Pepper High School Composition Contest. His piece, Ex Luna Scientia, is based on NASA’s Apollo 13 mission and vividly describes the journey from start to end, evoking the feelings and milestones of the mission.
“It was quite the opportunity to be published at the age of 17,” Boggs said.
Some might question the validity of hiring a high school sophomore as an instructor, but Boggs’ ambition and talent made him a standout among his peers, according to the school. Damien Boyd, a teacher at Foundation Academy of Mansfield and Richland School of Academic Arts, said Boggs’ composition skills blow the mind.
“I’ve heard many different young musicians excel and succeed on their instruments, but from a writing standpoint that usually comes much later in life,” Boyd said. “His writing is very mature, and uses a lot of his creativity. He doesn’t hold back, and puts it on paper to come up with very nice musical ideas.”
Boyd is working alongside Boggs and instructor Evan Zimmerman to pull off the honors band concert on Thursday. Boggs teaches the percussion section, while Boyd runs the brass section and Zimmerman focuses on woodwinds.
“All of them are well beyond my ability as far as other instruments go,” Boggs said. “I’ve conducted my high school band, they perform a piece of mine every year so I’ve got some experience there. But my band director usually comes in and works out the technical parts of it, and then I come in and get the piece flowing with the subtle details.”
However, Boyd is quick to point out the concert as a whole is a product of Boggs’ work.
“It’s like taking top-tier musicians from all the schools around, putting them on stage and they’re playing this creative music that Wyatt has provided,” he said. “What he lacks in experience he makes up for in confidence and passion. He’s well beyond his years, and has a very creative mind.”
The challenge of an honors band comes from learning an entire program of music in an extremely short amount of time – in this case, only three days. The band is made up of 17 musicians from eighth grade up to recent graduates from schools in Lexington, Ontario, Shelby, Ashland and others.
“The point is two things: test them on how much they can pull out of the music in a short amount of time, as well as give them the opportunity to play with like-minded players and give them some hard music they feel challenged by,” Boggs said.
A self-imposed challenge came on Boggs’ part, as well: he composed all five pieces for the concert in the span of two weeks.
“I’d originally planned for three or four weeks, but I thought it would be good to give myself a deadline so I could see how fast I could write music,” he said.
Actually playing music came first for Boggs. As a toddler, he provided a rough percussion to the singing talents of his older brother, Tucker. He began to play guitar at the age of eight, then moved on to the drums.
Composing, however, was a self-taught art. Boggs takes his inspiration from contemporary symphonic music as well as film scores, particularly the score from the 2013 film “Oblivion” with Tom Cruise.
“It usually just comes to me,” Boggs said of his composing process. “There are little things you can listen for, and it’s kind of trial and error. I usually have the general melody, but sometimes I don’t like how it goes from this note to that note, and I have to figure out another way to do that.”
Teaching was a skill that came naturally as well. It began as a different way for Boggs to connect with his peers.
“I also like psychology, so it’s interesting to see how there’s no one way to teach someone,” he said. “It’s interesting to see how everyone’s brain works.”
These days, interspersed with teaching and composing and conducting, Boggs is also preparing for college auditions. His dream schools include New York City University, the University of Cincinnati, or a few California schools with the goal of studying commercial composition. One day, he hopes to create his own film score.
“The thing about composition that I love is I can do anything with it, I could teach or I could compose for television or commercials, or local plays or musicals – whatever comes to me,” Boggs said.
In the meantime, Boggs continues to contribute his talents to Richland Academy of the Arts. Doors open at 5:30 on Thursday for the honors band concert – preceded by a performance from Boggs’ jazz band – with the concert beginning at 6 p.m. Admission is free.
“I’m mostly looking forward to premiering it with all the beautiful players,” Boggs said. “I’ve connected with pretty much every one of them, and it’s so fun to be among those people that are playing it. It’s a whole different level of connection than if I was talking to a different generation of people.”
