– PARMA Recordings CEO Bob Lord
Quinn Dizon
“Sometime in February of 2012, I submitted a short composition for piano quartet to the PARMA Student Composer Competition. The application was free, and took less than five minutes to fill out. My initial thought was that I had nothing to lose, and that months later I would likely receive an email listing a group of winners of whom I had never heard.
“In August, I traveled to Rockport MA to record my piece in the Shalin Liu Performance Center. When I first met and heard the musicians of the quartet assigned to record my piece, I could tell that the people at PARMA had continued their goal to provide me with a consistently high level of professionalism. If ever I had a comment or revision about the performance, the players were always happy to try new ways of approaching the music, and would often provide comments of their own to aid in the overall performance. My producer, Andy Happel, would also frequently weigh in on everything from musical considerations, to how some issues could be resolved in post-production. In total, the team which PARMA provided was comprised of some of the finest performers and musicians I have had the pleasure to work with.
“While I’m sure the recording I will get from this competition will be remarkable in quality, far more meaningful to me is that PARMA showed me that there are amazingly talented people working incredibly hard to bring the music of our generation to life. Having mostly experienced contemporary classical music in a scholarly setting, I had forgotten that these companies and people existed outside of academia. For bringing me to this realization, I am truly grateful for all the people at PARMA and the vital service they provide.”
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