Our Interview with Kathryn Bostic

CS: Kathryn, you are a true multi-hyphenate! Before we get into your career and the AIR program, can we start at the beginning? Share a little about where you are from and what your early life was like. When did you first get interested in music? Did you study it in school?

KB: My mother was a fantastic composer and pianist and had studied piano at Eastman School of Music. She went into labor with me while teaching piano so I think it’s fair to say I came into the world with music in my DNA. I started playing piano when I was three and started creating my own “piano story telling” around eight years old. I always used piano playing as an extension of my imagination when I would create stories.

CS: As you know, our Project Inclusion fellowship is a signature program here at Sinfonietta, and provides mentoring to future leaders in the performing arts. So naturally, we are curious: What role, if any, did mentors play in your career?

KB: Great question! I’ve had phenomenal mentoring throughout my life and specific to career is the Sundance Institute’s Film Composers Lab that I participated in twice (narrative feature lab and documentary feature lab.) Helmed by wonderful composer Peter Golub, the lab provides mentoring with some of the A list composers for Hollywood films. This gave me a lot of confidence to pursue film scoring. I’ve also had the good fortune to participate in BMI’s Conducting Workshop with Maestro Lucas Richman who has been a tremendous advocate of my work and commissioned me for a premiered piece “Tovaangar” with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra.

CS: Kathryn, what is your approach to composing? What role does narrative and storytelling play in your work?

KB: I start with a theme in mind and then it becomes more of a conversion describing the world, environment, and characters of that theme. It’s very organic for me because I’m very instinctual about composing. Scoring for film is perhaps a bit more definitive because you have to write to picture and not get in the way of some of the verbal and visual dynamics, so the creative process is a bit more specific and has to reflect the vision of the director. Writing concert music, the story telling can be less tied into this and denser and more dimensional with a musical narrative.

CS: In addition to being a talented composer and songwriter, you are also a pianist and vocalist. What do you most enjoy performing?

KB: I love all of it! It’s all conversation and “sonic storytelling.” Like going to different restaurants for great food except is “musical menus!” You have a successful career in the television and film arena. What advice would you give to someone from the performing arts who is looking to enter these fields? Find your community of fellow creatives. Directors, screenwriters, actors, composers, and more are all part of creating a film. Whether formal training in studying film scoring or not, augment this with meeting others in other areas of film making. Study the composers you admire and also those you may not be aware of; listen to music outside of your comfort zone. Most of all have patience and faith, everyone’s path is different so do not compare yours with someone else.

CS: We are so thrilled to have you as Chicago Sinfonietta’s inaugural Artist-in-Residence. What made you say yes to the opportunity?

KB: This is a tremendous honor for me to collaborate with some of the most gifted and visionary team of artists and administrators I have known. Chicago Sinfonietta has a longstanding priority to provide a strong creative and musical environment for underrepresented talent and artistry. I am humbled and honored to be a part of this wonderful organization for this residency.

CS: You were recently nominated for an Emmy for your scores in both “Toni Morrison- The Pieces I am “ and in "Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir". Can you tell us more about that whole experience?

KB: The score requested for this film is primarily piano which is my main instrument. Amy Tan grew up in a musical household, in fact, her mother wanted her to be a classical pianist. There was an effortless flow in creating the score because her story is so compelling and authentic. I was easily inspired. This is also true of my score for “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (also Emmy nominated); while this was a jazz score with chamber orchestra, the inspiration was there for me as well.

CS: We cannot wait for the Chicago premiere of The Great Migration: A Symphony in Celebration of August Wilson this January. What insight can you give us into this work? Would you say this piece is characteristic of your larger body of work?

KB: The Sundance Institute in tandem with Time Warner; and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (2018 World Premiere) provided initial funding for my piece “The Great Migration - A Symphony in Celebration of August Wilson” which includes narrated excerpts from his plays and poetry.

My desire is to honor this iconic playwright, with an orchestral statement that reflects the earthiness and majesty of the African American experience within his plays. Rich in musicality and cadence, Wilson's writing easily lends itself to symphonic storytelling. I had the good fortune of collaborating with August Wilson and scored several theatrical productions, including "Gem of the Ocean" (Broadway), "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" (directed by Phylicia Rashad), and "Radio Golf". The August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh hired me to score and sound design scenes from his plays in their 2011 “August in August” tribute to the playwright. I also scored the PBS American Masters documentary "August Wilson-The Ground on Which I Stand.”

The overall influence Mr. Wilson has had on me is immense. His awareness of his unique gift in storytelling African American lifestyle and history has helped me to appreciate the power of individual expression and its importance for me as an artist. This has deepened my commitment to honor my artistic voice and pay tribute to August Wilson by writing “The Great Migration: A Symphony in Celebration of August Wilson.”

CS: We are so thrilled to have you with us, Kathryn and can’t wait for the Chicago premiere of The Great Migration: A Symphony in Celebration of August Wilson!

Learn more about Kathryn and our Artist-in-Residence Program. And join us for the premiere of  Letters From Moral Courage during THUNDER in January 2023.