Meet the 2001 MTNA-Shepherd: distinguished composer of the year. (Composer Commissioning).(Music Teachers National Association)(Brief Article)

David Mullikin exemplifies the modern performer/composer. When the Colorado Music Teachers Association offered him a commission with the suggestion he compose for piano trio, he consulted his colleagues in the Ariel Trio, the piano trio David has performed with since 1991. Mullikin composed Voice of the River Han, a song cycle for piano trio and soprano, the piece for which he has been named the 2001 MTNA-Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year.

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Mullikin holds degrees in music performance from the University of Cincinnati and the University ofs Michigan. He has been a member of the Colorado Symphony, formerly the Denver Symphony, since 1973.

Over several e-mails, phone calls and an extended face-to-face meeting, I learned about David. He told me all of his compositions are written for specific performances. I asked him how he started composing.

"I was always fascinated by composition. Sitting in an orchestra for twenty hours a week for twenty-nine years you hear a lot of music, both good and bad," he says. "I tended to be pretty analytical about the music."

Mullikin says he didn't get around to writing any music until he was about 40. He got involved with the Colorado Symphony Education Department, composing musical programs to be presented to area school children. Overture for Strings was one of his first compositions created for the Up Close and Musical String Ensemble, a group from the Colorado Symphony who presented these educational programs. Since then he has been a pioneer in creating widely presented curriculum outreach programs, including "Math Notes" and "The Music of Life."

While he was playing serious chamber music in the Ariel Trio, his colleagues encouraged him to write music for their concerts. The results were such original compositions as Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird and the whimsical Fables for Piano Trio.

David credits his parents as his primary musical influences. They were enthusiastic music aficionados who took him to concerts and arranged for piano and cello lessons.