INTERVIEW

His ability to find inspiration in the most unexpected places is truly remarkable. During our recent conversation, I asked him what inspires him. His answer was enchanting: he traced his inspiration back to the first time he encountered a Monarch Butterfly. “It wasn’t conventional music,” he explained. “But the sound of their wings fluttering, and their incredible beauty felt like a symphony. To me, it was a work of art”. Ethan shares that his process of composing music is unusual. “A lot of composers will sit at the piano and begin forming music, but my music comes to my head.” Ethan goes on to say that he records his voice and will imagine all the instruments coming together to find the melody that’s in his head. Ethan creates his pieces on a computer, using a software system that will fully notate it and bring all the parts together.

 

Ethan has been inspired by many great composers throughout his life. “The music from the Polar Express was the first one that got stuck in my head, that I would hum.” Alan Silvestri composed music for the Polar Express and Ethan finds great inspiration from him. “Danny Elfman also influenced me, the children’s choir in the background of 2010’s Alice in Wonderland, gave me a feeling of nostalgia, even though I had never heard it before” Ethan reflects on composers like John Williams who composed the Home Alone theme and how profound it is that so many people feel something when they hear that song, “it’s so familiar and creates such emotion around the parallels in life, that there is sadness but also happiness.” Ethan says.

 

Ethan’s family and his friend and mentor Chris Pilsner have been some of his biggest supports. They inspire him daily and help him to achieve his dreams. When he was growing up, his family spent 10 years traveling together in an RV. Ethan spent countless hours using his iPad to create music “I could channel emotions in a way I maybe couldn’t with words” Ethan says. Composing music has also challenged feelings of perfectionism and the unknown. “I think musicians should keep everything they’ve worked on,” he says, “even though some of my earlier work can be hard to listen to, it shows me where I started

and how far I’ve come.” Adam Jones was his first teacher, he helped to unlock some of the secrets of music theory. Working with Chris now, he has helped expand that and take it further. Chris travels to different conventions and sells sheet music of Ethan’s and others.

 

Ethan genuinely wants to bring joy to others when they hear his music. He wants to bring the same joy that the many composers who’ve inspired him, have brought to him. Ethan’s song, “You Are Starlight” has been sold 3 times to school orchestra programs. “In Texas, someone bought it for an orchestra that was themed for space” His dream is to hear it being performed.

 

You can listen to “You Are Starlight” and other works from Ethan at soundcloud.com/maestroethan Ethan is a creative wonder and truly an inspiration to me and many others in his life. It is an honor to get to share his story and music.