On Finding Your Voice as an Artist

Very early in my career I was obsessively concerned with finding my voice as a composer. "Find your voice" is one of the most common things my teachers would tell us at Berklee. "Don't try to be John Williams or Howard Shore or Jerry Goldsmith. Try to find your own unique style." It was a terrifying idea. Was my work just a ripoff of someone else? Was I ever going to develop a unique style? Would I have to contrive something for the sake of being different?After many conversations with young composers I've realized that this is a very common concern, and it is probably true for artists of any kind. We are all obsessed with the idea of being original. But when we're just starting out, of course we're going to sound like our idols. That's how developing as an artist begins!I have always been fascinated with Nadia Boulanger, the famous French composer and educator who had such amazing students as Philip Glass, Aaron Copland, and Quincy Jones. What I've always found remarkable about Boulanger's students is that not only do they all possess an extremely personal voice, they are all drastically unique from each other. Aaron Copland defined an entire style of music and there is no way you would confuse his music with that of Philip Glass.So how did they do it? How did they develop a unique voice?A few years ago, I had the incredible experience of seeing Philip Glass give a Q&A after a screening of "Notes on a Scandal" as part of an SCL event. One of the questions that came up was about his style, and how all of his music has a particular sound to it. What stood out to me, and what really became the lightbulb moment, was that it was clear Glass had never "set out" to write in a certain way. He never made a conscious effort to write as a minimalist. It was just how he wrote. And just by writing the music he wanted to write, he expressed his own voice as a composer.In many ways it is a very Zen approach to creating. When you stop seeking a unique voice, you will find it. But I've found that it's absolutely true. Once I finally let go it was like everything clicked into place. Of course my music was going to sound like me. I wrote it, after all.So let go, stop obsessing about finding your voice and stop "trying" to be unique. Just write the way you want to write.