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By Lookout Staff

September 21, 2011 -- Santa Monica College alumnus Lev Marquis has transmuted painful emotion into a dream come true, winning one the country's most prestigious prizes granted to young composers.

Composer and SMC Alumnus Lev Marquis. Photo courtesy of Santa Monica College

Marquis' score – “Murder in a Vast Expanse,” based on a childhood nightmare – is one of 30 creations granted this year's American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Morton Gould Young Composer Award.

“'Murder in a Vast Expanse' is a musical interpretation of a raw feeling I was exposed to in a childhood nightmare,” Marquis said. “Death is approaching and nothing you can do to stop it. You can fight back but it is utterly futile; soon you will succumb and fade into nothingness – even if you do manage to go out with a bang.”

It was composed for two prepared bowed guitars, wineglasses, contrabass clarinet, percussion and electronics. Marquis designed the special effects and performance techniques that give his composition its mysterious quality.

To hear Marquis' piece, click on “Murder in a Vast Expanse.”

“When I was composing the piece, I tried to avoid thinking in the world of western tonality and instead focused on a pure relationship of sound to emotional thought and imagery,” said Marquis.

“I sat down with instruments and meditated on and experimented with various ideas and concepts: What does death sound like? What is it like to have death devouring everything? What does a world without music sound like? Why is it that we passionately fear the unknown?” he said.

A Los Angeles native, Marquis began studying piano at 12 and took up composing when he was 16. He has also studied violin and guitar.

After attending Santa Monica College, he moved to Boston where, at 20, he now attends the Berklee College of Music.

Marquis now creates concert music and has studied composition with USC doctoral student Eric Guinivan. His work was recently featured in a New York performance of “King Saul” before an audience of nearly 400.

He also works on film and video game scores and has been an Associate Producer on Emmy- and Grammy-nominated film composer Peter Himmelman's internet-television show "The Furious World.”

The award winning composers, ranging in age from ten to 29, share $45,000 worth of prizes, including the Leo Kaplan Award in memory of the distinguished attorney who served as ASCAP Special Distribution Advisor; the Charlotte V. Bergen Scholarship for a composer 18 years of age or younger; and grants from The ASCAP Foundation Jack and Amy Norworth Fund. Jack Norworth wrote such standards as "Shine On Harvest Moon" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

Morton Gould, in whose name the prize is awarded, was President of ASCAP and of the ASCAP Foundation from 1986 to 1994. A child prodigy, Gould's first composition was published when he was six years old. The ASCAP Foundation Young Composer program was dedicated to his memory, following his death in 1996.