Dr. Quincy Hilliard, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's composer-in-residence, was recently honored in his home state of Mississippi.
He received an award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters for his composition, Kojiki. An awards banquet was held Saturday at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, Miss.
Hilliard, the Heymann Endowed Professor of Music, is frequently commissioned to compose works and was commissioned to create music for the 1996 Olympic Games.
Kojiki is an example of program music, which conveys a story via a classical composition. Hilliard composed the piece, which is based on a Japanese creation myth, for concert bands, in 2013. It was commissioned by Augustana College, a private, liberal arts institution in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Kojiki tells the story of the goddess Inazami's journey through the underworld. Its seven movements begin with a thunderstorm, conveyed musically and emphasized with percussion instruments such as tom-tom drums, oil drums, snare drums and cymbals.
It also incorporates a traditional Japanese folk song, "Sakura, Sakura," also known as "The Cherry Blossom Song," as a recurring theme.
"A lot of my music is programmatic because as a composer, it allows me to really get involved in storytelling. I can put the story into the music and let people hear it. They can experience the story through the medium of music," said Hilliard in a recent interview.
The MIAL, a non-profit organization, was established in 1978. Since 1980, it has given annual awards in seven categories: fiction, non-fiction, visual art, musical composition (concert), musical composition (popular), photography, and poetry.
Its awards honor the artistic achievements of living Mississippians. To be eligible, recipients must be current or former residents with continuing, significant ties to the state. Hilliard is a native of Starkville, Miss.
Listen to Dr. Hilliard's Kojiki on Youtube.