The Global Search for Education: Victoria Bond: Trust Your Inner Composer

This month, audiences can stream Victoria Bond Masterclass in Copenhagen, Denmark on Planet Classroom.

Renowned composer and conductor Victoria Bond — hailed by The New York Times as “powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding” and by The Wall Street Journal as “impassioned” — leads a riveting coaching session on deep listening, dramatic shape, and creative authenticity. As Artistic Director of Cutting Edge Concerts, she urges young musicians to trust their instincts and sculpt raw ideas into emotionally charged works. Through live performance excerpts and candid guidance, Bond demystifies how a sketch becomes music that moves.

The Global Search for Education is pleased to welcome Victoria Bond.

In this masterclass, you guide a student through a hurricane-inspired composition. What drew you to that moment, and how do you help a student transform natural inspiration into musical drama?

The student had a composition that began in the eye of the hurricane, and it was filled with tension. When he scored the actual hurricane, it was disappointing. I told him that the real drama in this situation was the fear and terror of anticipating the danger, and that he should stay in that moment and never let the hurricane actually happen. It is important to recognize the drama in nature, which is sometimes other than the first impression. To leave the listener with an unresolved situation is far more interesting than dotting every “i” and crossing every “t”.

You talk about notes “knowing where they want to go.” Can you share a moment when deep listening led to a breakthrough like that?

Being sensitive to the material itself is so important. Like working with wood and following the grain of the wood, a musical motif has certain characteristics, and when you are aware of the possibilities inherent within that motif, you can begin to understand how to develop it. This is not necessarily immediately apparent. Sometimes you have to live with the material a long time before it reveals itself to you. The most obvious characteristics are not necessarily the most fruitful.

Filming captures you coaching live in Copenhagen. Did any student response or performance surprise or move you?

I am always surprised and delighted by the imagination of young people. I always encourage them to go deeper, look further, and explore. Being satisfied is the death of creativity, and repeating what you do well turns you into a hack and not an artist. Experiment, try something different, and never feel as though you have arrived. Getting there is the real journey.

What do you hope viewers learn about the invisible craft of composition from seeing your process on camera?

Composing is an art and a craft. The craft can be taught, but the art is mysterious and elusive. In my teaching, I hope to hone the craft and inspire the art. Patience, deep listening, and awareness are key ingredients in a composer’s toolbox. I also encourage learning from the masters, analyzing their works, living with these works, and making them part of your daily life, so that they are always with you. The great works are the best teachers of all, as long as you treat them as friends and not as idols to be slavishly imitated.

C. M. Rubin and Victoria Bond

Victoria Bond Masterclass — dive into fear, craft, and finding your voice. Now streaming on Planet Classroom.