Alex Thomen, composer

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music?

I’m not sure if there was a single inspiration, but a variety of factors. My older brother was quite involved in the early days of MIDI file sharing over this thing called the “internet.” Before Napster, Kazaa, and Limewire, we were downloading compositions/arrangements from these online MIDI composers. Video game soundtracks were also primarily MIDI (or, at least, there were shareable MIDI arrangements of those songs), so we had a collection of MIDI files on our computer. The cool thing was that we could send those files to a keyboard (I believe we had a Casio WK1800 at the time) and the keyboard’s screen display would show which notes were being triggered on the keyboard. I used that to learn a variety of songs – as a kid, it’s very rewarding to learn songs you like on the piano.

So, my interest in music was a combination of piano performance, composition, and technology. The technology part really became my focus in grad school and beyond. My career is currently focused on recording arts and audio engineering. Fortunately for me, the art of composition is directly intertwined with music technology now. Most composers are writing within a digital audio workstation (DAW) with collections of virtual instruments, synthesizers, and sample libraries.

What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?

I think one of the greatest challenges a lot of composers face after graduating (if they pursue a formal music education) is completing and releasing compositions to the public. When you’re attending a university, you have strict deadlines for completing music – if you don’t fulfill your requirements, you won’t graduate. That kind of pressure forces you to sit down and write music until you have completed pieces, even if you’re unconvinced of their quality. When you no longer have those strict deadlines, it’s much easier to let perfectionism paralyze your musical output. Overcoming that paralysis was a challenge for me – I think it requires a certain level of maturity to say, “I’m going to release this album. Some people will like it and some won’t. And that’s fine.” That’s certainly a better outcome than never sharing your art.

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working on a commissioned piece?

When you’re commissioned to compose a piece, you have two primary goals: 1) write something that is true to your own compositional voice and 2) appeal to the vision of the person hiring you. Generally, these two goals shouldn’t be at odds – if someone is commissioning you, they are *probably* somewhat familiar with your unique voice. But, it’s still something you have to keep in mind throughout the writing process.

What are the special challenges/pleasures of working with particular musicians, singers, ensembles or orchestras?

The most obvious challenge when writing for different musicians or ensembles is understanding the strengths and limitations of the instrumentation. I’m primarily a pianist, so I tend to write music that is idiomatic to the piano, which doesn’t always translate well to other instruments. There may be a melodic motif that’s incredibly simple to play on my instrument but may be incredibly difficult to play on clarinet (due to fingerings, range, tempo, or other factors). Composition requires a certain level of expertise in different instruments, but it also requires a willingness to adapt your music to support playability. If the clarinettist says, “Hey, this melody really isn’t feasible to play at this tempo,” it’s up to you to adapt your music. This may require slowing the piece down, changing the melody to make it playable, or changing the arrangement so that melody is played in a different instrument. Whatever the solution, it requires a certain level of humility to change your composition.

I think this will be a growing challenge for aspiring composers. Modern sample libraries and virtual instruments do not have the same limitations as their real-world counterparts – you can make a virtual violin play passages a real violinist can’t. This software can give composers an unrealistic expectation of what instrumentalists can feasibly play.

Of which works are you most proud?

I think I’m near-equally proud of all the work I have released. I don’t really take pride in the “compositional complexity” of my music – I take pride in the fact that I accomplished something that took a lot of work. It is so much easier to not release music than to release it. Every time I release a piece of music, it means I: composed it, rehearsed it, hired musicians for non-piano parts, recorded it, mixed it, mastered it, hired a visual artist, submitted it for distribution, and marketed it. Releasing a piece of original music is a lot of work, and that’s what I take pride in.

That said, my solo piano piece “When It Gets Dark” sticks out as a piece that I’m uniquely proud of. There are a few sections in that piece that are very technically difficult for me, so I had to practice it a lot. I feel like the hard work paid off – I got a final recording that matches what I envisioned. There were moments during the writing process when I didn’t think I’d be able to pull it off.

In November [2025], I’m releasing a song called “Home.” I arranged my song “Home” for a string quartet for that song, which is something I haven’t done since college. It was a fun challenge to flex those part-writing muscles again. I’m quite happy with how it turned out.

How would you characterise your compositional language?

That’s a hard one. I’m influenced by so many different artists in so many different genres/styles – pop, rock, classical, film scores, jazz, funk, and more. I think when I set out to compose something in a classical style, you can hear my rock and jazz sensibilities come through. I am a product of the unique combination of my musical influences.

How do you work?

Not always very diligently. Most everything I write comes from sessions of improvisation at the piano. I’ll sit down and improvise a few times a day – sometimes those sessions produce an idea that I’ll remember and expand on, and sometimes they don’t. If I don’t have a deadline for something I’m writing, it can stay in the “idea stage” for years. I’ll work on sketching it out here and there, but if it doesn’t amount to anything, I’ll just save it for another day.

On my solo piano album, there’s a piece called “Coeur d’Alene.” I wrote most of the main melody for those years before I sat down and finished it.

As a musician, what is your definition of success?

For me – as long as I’m continuing to write music that I’m proud of, I consider that a success. At least for now. As your musical career develops, your goals can change depending on what gives you purpose.

What advice would you give to young/aspiring composers?

Listen to a lot of music in a variety of styles and genres. There is something to learn from any style of music – even the styles you’re not too keen on. You may surprise yourself by what you end up being inspired by.

What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music’s audiences?

I’m not sure I have answer to this that someone else hasn’t already proposed. I think most city orchestras are doing what they can to attract general audiences. Nearly every symphony orchestra has a “pops” series where they play popular music and film scores. I think that’s a great way to bring non-classical audiences to appreciate what a symphony orchestra can do.

There’s a conversation here about what makes music “classical” in the first place. What’s the criteria we’re using? We already use “classical” in a general sense, including music that extends beyond the Classical Era. There’s plenty of relatively recent music that is being played in concert halls under the “classical” umbrella – Copland, Bartok, Shostakovich, etc. The music of John Williams is played by symphony orchestras each season, but those concerts are “pops” concerts instead of part of the classical repertoire. Maybe in 50 years, the music of John Williams and Hans Zimmer will be considered “classical.”

What’s the one thing in the music industry we’re not talking about but you think we should be?

I think there’s a general acceptance that excessive social media use is a net negative for an individual’s quality of life. We (rightfully) encourage everyone to limit their time on social media because it has a negative impact on mental health. We simultaneously encourage all artists to use social media as much as they can to “appeal to the algorithm.” “Posting every day on Instagram is the best way for your art to be seen.” “Make sure to create content to share. That will increase the chances of your work showing on someone else’s feed.” “Everything you do in life has content potential. You just need to film it and post it.”

Musicians can’t simultaneously limit social media use and maximize the potential for their music to be heard. If they want to be heard, they’re forced into excessive social media use. To put it another way – aspiring musicians are penalized for not being addicted to their phones. I’m not sure what the solution is, but that’s a conversation that musicians should be having.

alexthomen.com