Unpacked: with Gracie Caggiano (’21)
How Gracie Caggiano’s belongings make up who she is
- “Being a composer is very collaborative effort. I find that I have to talk to a lot of different people because even though I’m creating this certain work, I have to collaborate with performers – because I can’t play all of these instruments on my own! I also have to collaborate with poets when I want to use text in music.”
- “There’s a lot of technology and resources nowadays – notation software – but I find that it makes the creative process more intimate to use actual paper so I stay stocked up on it.”
- “I have some scores from the library. I go to the library all the time and look for music by other composers that can help me learn different techniques for composition.”
- “So along with composition, I also study voice here at Stetson and I take lessons. So we have to learn so many songs every semester. And so a big part of my life outside of composition is practicing. It’s also a way to see works by other composers in real time as I’m working on them.”
- “This little notebook [is] just where I write what I have to do. I’m kind of a fluid person when it comes to scheduling, so I don’t have to use a planner – I find that it doesn’t work for me. So I use this notebook and just waste everything that I have to do once I get it done.”
- “Being a musician, you’re always listening to things and that’s one way that you learn. Half of the listening is just listening to life because I feel that nature is a primal composer and that we can learn from it. But the other half of it is actually listening to works by other composers. I mean you can look at the scores, but actually hearing what’s going on has a big impact on learning.”
- “A little different compared to everything else, it was a gift from a friend. There’s a legend that in ancient times they use this stone to heal snake bites, and so it’s a reminder to stay strong even when you have something going on that’s stressful or impacting you.”
- “I’m a music theory tutor at Stetson. That’s something I’ve just started this year, but I enjoy it a lot. The end goal of course is to compose all the time for the rest of my life, but I also have a strong desire to teach, and so this is giving me some experience in helping people gain knowledge – not teaching per se but helping people understand.”
- “I drink coffee a lot. It’s kind of a comforting thing to wake up in the morning and just have a cup of coffee and start brewing ideas for the day. It’s nice to just sit there and wake up, get caffeinated, and start thinking.”
About the Contributors
Natalie Bergeron, Multimedia Director
Natalie Bergeron is the Multimedia Director for Hatter Network. She is an environmental science major with a lively passion for plants. She loves music...
