ANN ARBOR, MI – Demarion Williams doesn’t hold back when he opens up the Soundtrap music application students at Pattengill Elementary School use to create music during class.
The fourth-grader tinkers with the different beats, drops and fades that have set his music apart and earned him recognition at the 2024 Young Composers of Michigan Premier Concert for an original musical composition he created in music class last year.
“I really wanted to show out,” Demarion said. “I was just thinking of things and I was just closely listening to the beats.”
Demarion’s then-third grade teacher John Churchville first heard his composition “DW” when he offered to play it during one of the “sharing days” where students can update what they’ve been working on with the Soundtrap music creation program.
Churchville was impressed with Demarion’s attention to detail and suggested he submit the composition for the 2024 Young Composers of Michigan premiere concert.
The concert, run by the Michigan Music Education Association, highlights standout musical work by K-12 students from across the state. The goal of the concert is to support the development of Michigan’s K-12 students as creators, producers and performers.
Compositions are reviewed by professional musicians and mentors during the summer, and only a select few are chosen to be featured each January at the Michigan Music Conference.
Out of a record number of submissions this year, 9-year-old Demarion’s piece was one of 14 selected, making him one of the youngest honorees, as well as the only student from Ann Arbor Public Schools recognized this year. You can listen to “DW,” his composition, here.
Demarion was initially hesitant about entering the piece. He even went so far as to decline his mother Shalea Harper’s invitation to enter it for him. But Harper entered it anyway – a decision Demarion is now happy she made.
“He loves the sound of music,” Harper said. “But for him, actually play something or creating something – I was surprised on that one. I listen to it and I was, of course, quite shocked.”
Demarion said the experience of hearing his music and seeing others listen to and appreciate it was intense.
“It felt very exciting and kind of nerve-wracking,” he said. “It felt good to hear something that I composed.”
When students work to create music with the Soundtrap program, which is provided by the district, Churchville only asks that their compositions have a beginning, middle and end.
“DW” had those elements, Churchville said, while also showing a mature ear and understanding of the form of a song.
“Another thing that stuck out was that he used an advanced technique called automation, where he was turning down volumes when things sounded unbalanced,” Churchville said. “He really demonstrated a very mature and deep sense of listening while he was while he was creating.”
Beyond the qualities of the composition, Churchville was proud of Demarion for sharing his work with the rest of the class. That’s what “sharing days” are about, after students spend time using the music creation tools at their disposal in the Soundtrap program on “creatin days.”
“That’s really where the circuitry of the creativity gets wired into the culture of the school, because they hear what other students are doing and they ask questions about how they did it,” Churchville said.
While he plans to continue to create music through the music creation software, Demarion says he also plans to stay connected to music in other ways. He has started to play the recorder and would like to start playing the violin next year.
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