Bugs and books become inspiration for this 11-year-old composer
OMAHA, Neb. — Winston Schneider started piano lessons when he was 5 years old. Before long, on his own, he was playing assigned pieces in different keys, a feat not typically within reach of a young musician. Soon after, he started composing his own songs.
"While I was practicing piano, the ideas, they just started coming to me in my head," Winston, now 11, told NET. "I'm like, 'Hmm. It would be sad if these ideas went to waste.'"
They didn't. His first piece was "Snowman, Snowman Don't You Melt." Now the Omaha preteen's classical composing credits include pierces like "Scherzo of the Feather Stars," which took top prize at the 2018 National Association for Music Education Student Composers Competition. And then there's Winston's "Arousing of the Arrow-Jawed Ants," which nods to some of the home-schooled sixth-grader's favorite things — fantasy novels and insects.
"I write music based on what I think the insects would do," Winston said. "If I was going to write a piece about, let's say, a cicada. I would maybe have maybe a little loud and obnoxious theme, since cicadas are loud and obnoxious."
Ken Meints, Winston's composition teacher at the Omaha Conservatory of Music, said the young composer's musical acumen is "in another class."
"It just comes to him so naturally and he just has a curious mind. Everything just opens up for him."
What's next for the young composer? Winston said he wants to compose a piece for every element of the Periodic Table "because I like studying chemistry" he said. "I also collect the elements of the Periodic Table. It's been fun," he added.
He also wants to write an insect opera. "I'm not done with the idea about insects," Winston said.
This report originally appeared on NET Television.
Support Canvas
Sustain our coverage of culture, arts and literature.
The rock legend died on July 22 after performing his final show weeks earlier. As the funeral procession made its…
The title of the musical “Maybe Happy Ending” might leave you guessing about the storyline, but there’s no doubt the…
Some 100 years after prohibition, a distillery in Providence is serving up local liquor. But it's not your run-of-the-mill alcohol,…
The world of K-pop has fresh new faces: the band 1VERSE with a debut album and lead single, “Shattered.” The…
The work of artist Ruth Asawa, who died in 2013, is back in the spotlight with a major traveling exhibition.…
“South Park” co-creator Trey Parker had the briefest of responses Thursday to anger from the White House over the season premiere…
Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s long history. He was the main…
Heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne died this week at 76, about five years after announcing he had Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s…
It’s been a successful few months for 40-year-old writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and his play, “Purpose,” which won both the Pulitzer…
The gloomy, demon-invoking lead singer of the pioneering band Black Sabbath who became the throaty, growling voice of heavy metal,…
With summer in full swing, you may be wondering what books to take along on vacation or enjoy right at…
Here are some ideas to help you choose your next read.
Costa Rican authorities report he drowned Sunday afternoon at Playa Cocles on the Caribbean coast.
Broadcast TV’s highest-rated late-night talk show, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," is being cancelled. Paramount called it a financial…
Congress is moving toward revoking a billion dollars in already approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the entity…