Homegrown: Tristan Willcox

By Laura-Clare Thevenet

“His love for the piano began when he was 7 years old. By the time he was 11, he had written his first work for solo piano.”

At the age of 16, Tristan Wilcox is the youngest composer to be featured on the Homegrown program. His love for the piano began when he was 7 years old. By the time he was 11, he had written his first work for solo piano. He currently attends Spartanburg High School where he studies with John Moody and has performed in jazz bands, concert bands, and percussion ensembles. Recently, he studied jazz performance during the summer at Belmont University. His piece for piano and violin, Ilia, has been performed at Converse College.  

This is the debut performance of Tristan’s piece Battle at Byrjun. The Icelandic word “byrjun” means “beginning.” The urgency and determination of this emotionally driven piece brings the audience member through Tristan’s struggle in his artistic process to a victorious outcome. According to Tristan, ”Battle at Byrjun is symbolic of the challenges in my own beginnings as a composer and the drive I feel to overcome them.”

He describes his composition process as trial and error. He says composing is a gut feeling and a spontaneous activity. “It's about following your heart, and it's about telling a story, so you have to redo it over and over again until the feeling is right.”

Tristan is a student of Dr. John Moody, to whom he attributes his aspirations of becoming a film composer.