Ethan Graham
COURTESY | Ethan graham
Tonight at 8 p.m., students and faculty are invited to watch “Hazilea at the Dawn,” a collection of senior Ethan Graham’s piano compositions.
The concert will take place in Conrad Recital Hall. Graham, a music major specializing in composition, wrote the first draft of “Hazilea at the Dawn” in his freshman year at Hillsdale. Now, in his senior year, he’ll be able to see the story and music brought to life.
“I had always wanted to write it into something bigger but never had the chance to collect all my drafts into a finished project until this year,” said Graham. “It’s arranged for string quartet, piano, and three vocalists. This could be considered my first foray into musical theater, blended with my usual mixed-media composition style.”
The show itself is based on a fictional story Graham had written about a young woman’s struggle with her brother’s heroic death in battle.
“It’s a portrait of Psalm 139:11-12: ‘If I say, ‘surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night’ — even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.’ I’m deeply fascinated by broken humans encountering a perfectly loving God and this is the most dramatic exploration I have undertaken within that theme,” Graham said.
Graham comes from a musical family and said he has studied piano for most of his life. As a kid, he wasn’t fascinated by just any music, but specifically movie scores.
“My first sublime encounter with music was with film score,” Graham said. “It was either the ‘Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs’ soundtrack or the ‘Polar Express’ soundtrack. I don’t remember which one was first, but I would just sit and listen to it over and over.”
While in high school, Graham took on the task of writing the music for a friend’s film. Through that exposure, Graham said he explored music in a more visual capacity.
Despite Graham’s love for movie scores and composing, he was unsure of what he wanted to do with music when he first came to Hillsdale. While reflecting on the music and musicians that inspired him the most, Graham decided he wanted to pursue film scoring as a career.
“You know when you get the chills because something really resonates with you?” Graham said. “I would always find that in film music. I love it. And I didn’t realize it until late sophomore year here that I wanted to be a film composer.”
Graham said he considers himself a composition major, even though no such thing exists at Hillsdale College. According to Graham, the music faculty at Hillsdale have rallied around him nonetheless to support him in his dreams.
“We’ve kind of made it up as we’ve gone along but it’s been really amazing,” he said. “All of the faculty have really come behind me and given me opportunities to hone my craft and to learn and grow and have connected me with composers that they know. I’ve really been very blessed.”
After graduation, Graham plans to pursue a master’s degree in scoring for film, television, and interactive media at Pulse College in Dublin, Ireland. His performance tonight will encompass the work he has done while at Hillsdale.
Brad Blackham, one of Graham’s piano teachers at Hillsdale, said he has loved watching Graham’s impact on the music department.
“It’s been an absolute joy for me to be able to help Ethan prepare for the next step in his musical journey,” Blackham said in an email. “He will be sorely missed, not only by me, but by many others in the music department. But I’m also looking forward to seeing where that journey takes him.”
Sophomore Samuel Jarzab, one of the three characters in the theatrical component of the show, described “Hazelia at the Dawn” as “transcendent.”
“It asks the listener to come along on a journey through the grief of a young girl and how God’s infinite love and grace is truly restorative and elevating,” said Jarzab, “It’s a story about love.”
“It’s been super wonderful working on this project. Quite honestly, this might be the most fun I’ve ever had working on a project,” said sophomore Maggie Saffian, who plays the main role, “It’s just really moving. I look forward to every single rehearsal and never want to leave!”
Join Graham for the performance of “Hazelia at the Dawn” to see his performance come to life on stage.
