The woodwinds at the start of John Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1 sing a shrill, swarming sound.
The composition emanates rage, anger and bitterness and those feelings are fitting for the story that spurred it.
There are sudden pounds from percussionists, provoking pauses, or rests, and slow melancholic melodies winding throughout.
Eric Schultz, a professor at Coastal Carolina University, played the piece on an E-flat clarinet, a small clarinet, with a specific rage—a gay rage— he said, with the Chelsea Symphony in 2019 in New York City during WorldPride.
His voice, usually calm and confident, cracked as he recalled playing Corigliano’s piece.
“I get very emotional telling the story,” he said.
Corigliano memorialized the lives of his friends who died and who were dying of AIDS during the latter half of the 20th century in his Symphony No. 1.
“It was the 50th anniversary of Stonewall,” said Schultz, recalling his role in the 2019 performance. “This particular WorldPride was the largest LGBTQ gathering in world history.
“A lot of beautiful people died. A lot of creative people died. And nobody cared. For a lot of years, it took politicians, medical professionals years to say the word AIDS in public. People tried to hide this under the rug.”
This deep connection Schultz feels to Corigliano’s piece as a gay man fuels his work as a professor at CCU. There, he helps students find composers they can see parts of themselves in.
And now, the local professor and musician is a Grammy quarterfinalist. He’s one of 212 quarterfinalists for the 2024 Music Educator Award.
Schultz’ voice cracked again while he recalled introducing a Puerto Rican student to Roberto Sierra’s work, a Latin Grammy-winning composer. The student cried, he said, and told him his father’s name is Roberto and that he had never seen his family’s name on sheet music.
“My friend’s research, Ivan Enrique Rodriguez, wrote an article, ‘Color Deaf,’ and in the last eight seasons, the New York Phil performed 800 works and 12 were by composers of color," he said. "Eight-hundred works on their main season and 12 written by composers of color. So that's the extent of it. This is an all-hands-on-deck situation."
Schultz is addressing this problem through the project he created with a few CCU students called The [Represent]atoire Project where he commissions accomplished and diverse musicians to visit the university and work with aspiring student musicians.
Valerie Coleman, the first living Black female composer commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, came to CCU, thanks to Schultz and his project.
“I was telling [Schultz] about this composer, Valerie Coleman, and how I was obsessed with her and how it would be so crazy to play with her,” said his former student Diamond Gaston. “Less than a year later, we got the opportunity to bring her to Coastal and work with her.”
Gaston said Schultz literally made her dreams come true.
“He is insane at the flute. His primary instrument is the clarinet but he is amazing at the saxophone as well,” she said. “He’s a mastermind.”
Away from his instruments and students, Schultz is a cat-dad faring with homesickness for New York City.
He needs to work on his personal life, he says, because he sinks all his talent and time into his work, which has earned him the possibility of a Grammy. It's an honor, he says, but he could also use some work-life balance.
He is beloved by his colleagues at CCU for his work and his energy.
“I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Eric,” said Wendy Weinhold, an associate professor of communication, media and culture at CCU. “He absolutely deserves this award and recognition.”
She said the way in which Schultz’s students resonated with The [Represent]atoire Project was amazing to witness.
Semifinalists for the Grammy 2024 Music Educator Award will be announced in September and the ultimate recipient will be announced during Grammy Week 2024.
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