USD Band Performs Local Composer’s Song

    Last Tuesday evening, Aalfs Auditorium at the University of South Dakota was filled with music. Both the university’s concert and symphonic bands were performing. The title of the concert that evening was “605 and Friends.” The “605” part of the name refers to the composers whose works were featured. A handful of them were from South Dakota, and what is more, one of the names that appeared on the program was a local musician. That name was Larry Telkamp.
    Telkamp, who lives in Britton, is a native of the Brookings area. He was always musically inclined, even as a young child he explains. He was scribbling out music before he could read. “Somewhere, my mom still has little scraps of paper with my early ‘compositions,’” Telkamp said. “I can’t really make sense of them now, but I could back then.” 
    As a kid, Telkamp would play any instrument he could get his hands on, from the out of tune piano in the family basement to his brother’s trumpet. “I would sneak into my brother’s closet and play his trumpet on the days he didn’t have band,” said Telkamp. “Eventually, my dad bought me a cornet from an auction.” 
    Telkamp started school band in the fifth grade as a trumpet player. Music became an increasingly important part of his life. “Band is what kept me in school he said,” he emphasized. “As someone who is autistic, algebra didn’t make sense. Music made sense.” 
    Telkamp would pursue a performance major for trumpet at SDSU. He explained he never quit composing his own music but the thought that he would actually do that in a formal capacity was very far away. In his graduate programs, he would get a music education degree but also become increasingly interested in composition and says he owes a lot to his first composition professor.
    Over the next years, he began a teaching career but never quit writing music. He wrote jingles for local radio stations and even composed the music for his own wedding. He went on to write many pieces for his music students for contests and full scores for concert bands. 
    When asked about his writing process, Telkamp explained that he is a synesthete and that often directs his compositions. Synesthesia is an unusual blending of the senses in which the stimulation of one sense simultaneously produces sensation in a different sense. Synesthetes hear colors, feel sounds and taste shapes. “I write in the colors that are pleasant,” Telkamp said. 
    “I mostly write in my head,” the composer noted. “I have music in my head all the time. I will eventually scribble things down in a shorthand form.” He goes on to explain that he’ll eventually use software to aid the process. “With the software, I can hear the music played back and eventually put it in score form.” 
    Telkamp stressed that he always writes “in the public domain.” This means that his compositions are free to access and use. You can find them at his website www.quietwindspublishing.org. “If you want to use anything or make a bunch of copies, you can,” he said. “I was never interested in trying to sell anything.” 
    When it comes to the composition recently played at the University of South Dakota, Telkamp says the piece titled “The Kin of the Ax and the Rifle” dates back a couple of years. He wrote it during his time as the Britton-Hecla band director. 
    “At the time I was remembering my great grandmother who was an early pioneer,” Telkamp said. “I was also reading poetry by Carl Sandburg.” A line in the Sandburg poem “Prairie” spoke to him. 
    “You came in wagons, making streets and schools,   
    Kin of the ax and rifle, kin of the plow and horse.”
    More recently, Telkamp explains that he could not quite find the right piece for his high school band to perform at state contest, so he turned to “The Kin of the Ax and the Rifle.” The musical composition that was inspired by the poem received high marks at the band competition where USD’s Dr. Bethany Amundson was a judge. Telkamp remembers that the professor did not return her score at the end of the day and must have had an idea in mind.
    Fast forward to later last year. Amundson, Director of Symphonic Bands at USD, reached out to Telkamp. “When I took over the band at USD this year, I was starting to think about the concert program and future recording projects. I thought it would be great to feature South Dakota composers,” tells Amundson. “When I started putting together the program for a concert that featured South Dakota Composers, I thought that it would be great to include Larry’s piece which I remembered from judging large group contest. I had found the piece to be very charming.” 
    The local composition would be one a few featured on Tuesday at the college concert. It was performed by the Symphonic Band and directed by graduate conductor Justin Lincoln. Telkamp’s piece was one of a few from South Dakota writers that also included John Cacavas, Ginny Lewis, and Charles Dibley.
    Amundson was pleased to be able to feature the local talent, especially as an example for her students. “In my band at USD and in many high school bands across the state, we have many students who are aspiring composers,” said the director. “I think that representation matters, and I also think that students need to be able to see themselves reflected in the repertoire that their ensemble plays and in the music profession as a whole. For this reason, I wanted to bring South Dakota composers to the attention not only of my students, but to a wider audience.”
    Telkamp was in attendance at the concert on Tuesday where he and his fellow ‘605’ composers were recognized. For his part, he was appreciative of the opportunity for his composition to be performed on a big stage, though he remained humble about the event. 
    “I think my friends and family were more excited than I was,” he said. “It was fun to see, but I’m already thinking about my next steps and next songs.”