CompFest is back!

An outpoouring of creative music and high-profile artists in the field are the highlights of Harvard Student Composers Festival April 10-15. 

By Vicki Xu '23
OFA Staff Blogger

The Harvard Student Composers Festival – CompFest – returns April 10-15 with a slate of original work by student composers, and performances by student musicians across a variety of genres. A program of theOffice for the Arts, CompFest events also include the popular Spotlight Series with commentary from guest artists Vijay Iyer (April 10) and bassist Linda May Han Oh (April 11). The series will cap off on April 12 with keynote speaker Michael R. Jackson, who recently closed his Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Broadway musical A Strange Loop. This is Jackson’s second visit to the OFA. In spring 2021, he was a guest artist in conversation with Harvard Black CAST.

Jackson’s arrival to campus coincides with a wave of student musical over the past few years that venture beyond the canon, either in original works or casting.

“He seems like the absolute perfect person to have for this moment,” says CompFest artistic director Veronica Leahy ‘23, referring both to trends in Harvard theater and to the success of A Strange Loop.  

Leahy, who is also a composer, says that the defining characteristic of Jackson’s work is courage. “When you’re young, you tend to want to imitate things you’ve seen before, and you tend to want to make things that sound good or look good,” she says. “Young people tend to want to be safe, but Michael is a particular example of someone who has never played it safe. While it took a while for society to recognize his genius, I’m so glad we did.”

“There are so few artists who are bringing completely original stories being showcased in innovative new ways,” says Dana Knox, Harvard OFA manager of college theater. “It is particularly impactful that these stories bring such representation from often-marginalized narratives. … I want our students to see that their voices do have a path to Broadway.”

Jackson will participate in a keynote conversation with student performers and composers on April 12. Featured student compositions will include selections from ATALANTA, Queen of Magic and OUT, all original musicals by Harvard students performed over the 2022-23 year. Jackson will give feedback on the performances and OFA associate director for programming Alicia Anstead will moderate a conversation with Jackson and the audience. Jackson will also attend a showing of the First-Year Musical.

Additional spotlight events are hosted by Iyer and Oh, in which featured students give performances and then speak on a panel moderated by the guest artist. All CompFest events are free and open to the public. 

Mercedes Ferreira-Dias ’24, who will perform original songs in the series hosted by Iyer, is excited to discuss her work. “People don’t really want to listen to you talk about your song for two minutes and hear you play the song for two minutes,” she jokes. “I don’t usually get the chance to explain my process and choices, so I’m excited to have a space for that. I’m also excited to hear about other people’s writing processes.” 

Emma Lanford ’23, who will participate in Oh’s spotlight series, plans on showcasing songs she has recently finished writing and recording demos of for her senior thesis. “I was honored [to do the Spotlight Series] and am always more than happy to perform and talk about my work,” she says. “It’s rare that you get the chance to do that at Harvard specifically.”  

Lanford is particularly thrilled to be on a panel with Oh, whom she has admired since high school. “The jazz world is notably not the easiest place to be when you’re a woman – to put it lightly,” she says. Back when she was “dead set” on being a jazz singer, she would look to jazz history for the women who had contributed to the genre and was deeply influenced by Oh’s work. “I’m excited to listen to and speak with someone who really centered me in my artistic mission back at the end of high school, now as I’m at the end of college,” Lanford says.

CompFest will close with a cabaret, a genre-hopping series of performances promoting students’ original work. 

Lucas Ping Pao ’23 will perform his most recent EP Mindful Healing in the cabaret. Pao has been involved in CompFest since its virtual inception three years ago. Though he has always used music to express his ideas, he has only recently forayed into songwriting. “It’s cool to see the progression of my music as a representation of my path to self-discovery,” he says.

As Leahy, who is graduating, looks toward handing off the project, she notes that CompFest’s most important quality is its ability to reinvent itself each iteration. “I hope it takes on new life when I leave, and when I come back next year … to watch it, I’ll be surprised,” she says.

Find out more about the entire lineup for CompFest 2023 events here.