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McIntosh sophomore has musical composition performed

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

Last summer Doug Farrell, a sophomore at McIntosh High School, began composing a piece of music called “The Sun.” Last Thursday, “The Sun” was performed for the public for the first time by the McIntosh Wind Ensemble. Farrell has been composing music for close to two and a half years and this was the first time that a piece of his had been performed.

“The performance was a success and the piece got a standing ovation,” said Farrell, who is extremely proud of the piece. “It’s exciting to hear it played,” he added. “This is one of my biggest accomplishments ever.”

Farrell has been playing musical instruments for seven years. He plays percussion, piano and french horn and is interested in pursuing a career as a composer. He is a member of the marching band and wind ensemble at the school and was also a member of the school’s jazz band for a time. In addition to performing music at McIntosh, he is also a member of the Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Wind Ensemble and will travel with them to New York City in a few weeks for a performance at Carnegie Hall.

Farrell describes “The Sun” as a powerful song that deals with change. While the piece opens with a theme of power, it transitions to beauty and grace. According to Farrell, the composition process is complicated but it often starts with him getting an idea and then hearing things branch out in his head from there.

Farrell was pleased with the feedback he received from his peers and the support that teachers Barbara Baker and Brandon Houghtalen gave him when he brought the music to them. “They jumped on it immediately,” recalled Farrell. The McIntosh Wind Ensemble has been rehearsing the piece for close to a month and was ready to perform it last week.

Farrell entered the spring concert last Thursday just hoping for some constructive criticism from the audience and as they stood and applauded the performance of the music he wrote, he couldn’t have been more proud.