“When Kevin Day was a child, he could barely speak due to a speech impediment,” writes Stephen Humphries in Tuesday’s (1/25) Christian Science Monitor. “The native of Arlington, Texas … had a stutter. ‘Music was sort of my way of self-expression,’ [he says]. Now in his mid-20s, Mr. Day’s … work has already been performed at the Tanglewood Music Center … and Rachmaninov Concert Hall in Moscow…. This Thursday, he will debut a [string quartet] for the Boston-based Sheffield Chamber Players…. The young Black composer has … overcome acute challenges…. His best friend from church, Davion Moulton … was murdered in a [2015] shooting…. Mr. Day—then a freshman at Texas Christian University … sank into a depressive state. It lasted for years…. The day [he wrote] the composition ‘Breathe’ … ‘was a turning point,’ he says.… About a year later, the composer’s friends pointed out something he hadn’t even noticed. He’d completely stopped stuttering…. To date, Mr. Day’s 200-plus compositions include works for concert bands and chamber and symphony orchestras…. It’s given him a sense of urgency to create music [during] difficult times. ‘I know what it is to have to persevere. My goal is to try to help others as well.’ ”
Change font size
