Homegrown: Carrie Leigh Page
By Laura-Clare Thevenet
“I start with a cell that’s interesting. I have a great love for language, and many of my rhythms and melodic motives come from speech: little snippets of poetry, a moment in an overheard conversation, a phrase from a prayer or hymn. I transcribe how it sounds, then I start to play with it. ”
Music played a significant role in the trajectory of the life and career of Mississippi-born composer and educator Carrie Leigh Page. For years, she played in school bands that her father directed, and at home, Page’s father frequently played big band music and western classical music.
Her college search for a strong oboe teacher led her to Spartanburg where she studied oboe with Dr. Kelly Vaneman and composition with Dr. Scott Robbins at Converse College. After receiving her Bachelor of Music in Music Education at Converse, she earned her Masters in Composition at the University of Louisville and her Doctorate in Composition at Arizona State University.
As a teacher of PK-12 grade music at the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, Page is constantly learning and collaborating with fellow artists, vocalists, and educators. Along with researching opera and music education for young audiences, she composes with a main emphasis on vocal writing for chamber ensembles, orchestra, and even electronic media. Her work also includes research of the underrepresentation of female composers in music theory textbooks, a series of compositions for intermediate choirs, and a chamber opera based on Eudora Welty’s short stories. Page has taught at various colleges and schools in the country and currently serves as president of the International Alliance for Women in Music.
Her featured piece Meadow Moan enters in a peaceful, pastural meadow scene. The calm of the scene is abruptly interrupted by two contrasting folk songs, “One Man Went to Mow” and “One Man Will Mow My Meadow.” The audience quickly sees that the two mowers disagree and evolve into chaos instead of working together to mow, until eventually, there is no meadow. The mowers disappear in the frenzy, and all that is left is the quiet moan and ache of the meadow’s destruction, left in a worse state than it was at the start. It begs the question: how can society effectively communicate in times of disagreement?
During her time at Converse College, Page had the opportunity to study with fellow Spartanburg composers and musicians Dr. Scott Robbins and Dr. Kelly Vaneman.