Featured Composer: Alicia Bachorik

Alicia Bachorik’s music is characterized by a strong affinity for language and narrative. Obvious connections may be found in her vocal settings of poetry by A.A. Milne or Amy Lowell. More adventurous examples include her treatment of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s A Visit to the Asylum, which features flutists speaking the text of the poem through their instruments.

“I love music's ability to tell a story and convey a message,” she says. “I especially enjoy creating music that interacts in some way with text – words are so powerful on their own, and music can enhance emotions while telling its own tale. For this reason, much of my instrumental and vocal music has grown out of a poem, a phrase, or simply a set of words before taking on a life of its own.”

In addition to her imaginative scores, Alicia has a strong sense of community and a natural knack for leadership. She serves as Programming and Outreach Manager for Cross the Line, a student-run organization that brings music from the conservatory to the community. She has also served as a member of UNCSA’s ArtistCorps, a program of AmeriCorps that uses the arts to reach underserved youth and children.  Just this past spring she established the Composers Forum, a periodic gathering of UNCSA composers to discuss their works in progress.

Growing up in two different countries (the US and the Philippines), as well as touring with a choir around Europe has given Alicia a broad cultural background reflected in her music. Besides living abroad for 10 years, she has traveled extensively throughout the eastern USA and spent a summer touring and giving over sixty concerts with a choir in Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, and the Czech Republic.

Alicia Bachorik is a graduate student of Lawrence Dillon.

Alicia's work on SoundCloud

To view a score of Alicia's orchestra piece, "Seared Valor," click on the image below: