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Mt. Lebanon student excels as music composer

By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 5 min read
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Harry Funk / The Almanac

Hannah Ishizaki performs during the premiere of “Wavelengths” at Mt. Lebanon High School.

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Harry Funk / The Almanac

Olivia Wagner performs on viola for “Wavelengths” at Mt. Lebanon High School.

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Harry Funk / The Almanac

Performing “Wavelengths” are, from left, Hannah Ishizaki, Olivia Wagner, Rachel Martin and Will Buerger.

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Harry Funk / The Almanac

Rachel Martin plays bass for “Wavelengths” at Mt. Lebanon High School.

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Harry Funk / The Almanac

Will Buerger performs on percussion for “Wavelengths” at Mt. Lebanon High School.

It’s a cliché, Pittsburgh composer Chris Massa will admit, to say that someone possesses talent beyond his or her years.

“But in Hannah’s case, the cliché is true.”

Mt. Lebanon High School senior Hannah Ishizaki has been studying with Massa for four years, learning more about writing music on her way to her acceptance at America’s crème de la crème for performing arts education, The Julliard School in New York City.

“Part of my approach as a teacher is to find areas of opportunity in my students, and then to push them in those areas,” Massa said. “Hannah has never been discouraged by this, and she’s never one to avoid a challenge. Rather, she and her music have flourished.”

Consider that an understatement, particularly with regard to an 18-year-old. Hannah’s résumé already reads like something that, well, obviously impressed the Julliard admissions department, a Herculean feat in and of itself.

A couple of examples: During the same month last year, she was named a Tribeca New Music Emerging Composer for her composition “The Hypothetical Machine,” plus she became the youngest female composer to have her world premiere with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, with “City of Bridges.”

By Harry Funk
Staff writer
hfunk@thealmanac.net

Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra performs Hannah Ishizaki’s “City of Bridges,” May 21, 2017, at Heinz Hall

Just 17 when the premiere took place in February at Heinz Hall, Hannah described the scene as surreal.

“The PSO performance went amazingly, because they are incredible musicians, and wonderful people,” she recalled.

Her recollections about how she became interested in music around age 6 are a little cloudy, but her mother, Kerry, tells a certain story that Hannah likes to relate:

“A mariachi band came to my school, and there was a violinist. After that, I wouldn’t stop talking about playing the violin. I said, ‘Mom, I need lessons right now.’ We didn’t start violin in school until third grade, but I said, ‘No, I need to do it now.'”

By fourth grade, having also taken up playing another instrument, she got started on composing, thanks to dad Suguru.

“We were both in the Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra, and he had been trained on guitar but didn’t know how to read music very well,” she said. “So he was using the free writing software as a way to learn how to read music. And I just started playing around on it a bit.”

By sixth grade, she was ready to put what she’d learned about composing into action.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Hannah Ishizaki performs “Wavelengths” at Mt. Lebanon High School.

“In my orchestra class, some of my friends who played the viola were saying that they never get the melody and they’re always accompaniment,” she explained. “And I said, ‘You know what I could do? I could write something that has the violas featured as the melody.'”

Her teacher was impressed and advised Hannah, “Get some lessons.” She started studying with Charley Rappaport, the mandolin orchestra’s director, then with Ryan McMasters of Duquense University’s City Music Center, who taught her more about music theory and introduced her to a variety of genres.

Other instructors have included Troy Centofanto at Duquense University, who is now a Point Park University faculty member, and David Ludwig, chairman of composition studies at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, with whom Hannah takes lessons via Skype.

Massa, winner of the Pittsburgh Philharmonic’s 2017 Young Composer Contest, was impressed immediately with his even-younger protégé.

“Even though she was working with professional composers with college degrees, she and her music always held their own,” he said, “and it was a joy to see her grow as an artist during this time.”

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Hannah Ishizaki performs “Wavelengths” at Mt. Lebanon High School.

That includes her artistry as a performer: Hannah has maintained one of the highly competitive chairs in the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra’s violin section since she was in eighth grade. At the time, Lawrence Loh was the orchestra’s music director.

His successor, Francesco Lecce-Chong, also was among the many who recognized Hannah’s potential.

“I was showing him some of my pieces and asking him for feedback from a conductor’s standpoint,” she recalled. “He said, ‘You know what would be great? You could write a piece that would be like a fanfarey overture opening to the PYSO tour.'”

Hannah worked during the summer of 2016 on what would become “City of Bridges,” a three-and-a-half minute composition drawing inspiration from the melody of a song by Pittsburgh native Stephen Foster, the local rivers and, of course, the bridges.

Lecce-Chong not only agreed to incorporate the piece for the youth orchestra, but took it one step further.

“He mentioned that he was in charge of programming a Fiddlesticks concert by the PSO that was titled ‘Around the ‘Burgh,’ so he said it could be perfect for that concert, and he programmed it, which was really an amazing opportunity and very exciting,” Hannah explained.

For her independent study in music composition for her final year of high school, Hannah worked with some of her classmates on an ambitious multimedia project, emerging with “Wavelengths.”

By Harry Funk
Staff writer
hfunk@thealmanac.net

Hannah Ishizaki’s “Wavelengths,” Part One, performed April 20, 2018, at Mt. Lebanon High School

Premiered in April during the high school’s annual art show by Hannah and three other musicians – Olivia Wagner on viola, Rachel Martin on double bass and Will Buerger on percussion – the extended composition is based on her impressions of 11 pieces of artwork, images of which were shown on a television screen during the performance.

Soon, it’s on to New York.

“One of the great joys of being a teacher is seeing your students do things that surpass you,” Massa said. “While I can’t take credit for Hannah’s acceptance to Julliard, I’ve been delighted to play a role in it. I can’t wait to hear what she comes up with next, but knowing Hannah, I’m sure it will amazing.”

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

From left are Olivia Wagner, Rachel Martin, Hannah Ishizaki and Will Buerger.

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