Composing in Color

When Evan Blaché composes music, the TXST graduate student often starts with colors. The music takes shape as Blaché imagines the shades associated with the words of a poem or the imagery of a scene, like the pink of dawn transforming into the golden glow of sunrise.  

Blaché, a 2024 TXST music studies graduate and current graduate student in the School of Music, credits synesthesia—sensing color and sound as one—as a driving force behind the work. But while harnessing this creativity, Blaché has also learned to be flexible.  

“A lot of my composing in general is color-based,” Blaché says. “But sometimes the way I imagined it might be too high or too low for the ensemble, and so I have to be willing to compromise with myself. I’ll need to find a balance between vision and playability.”  

Blaché’s approach has been effective with compositions for choir, string ensemble, and orchestra being performed by groups at Texas State and across the country, including choral groups in which Blaché performs as bass vocalist.   

In recent years, Blaché’s awards have included winning the Golden Hornet String Quartet Smackdown and being named one of thirteen composition fellows for the Choral Arts Initiative PREMIERE|Project Festival.  

Dr. Michael Ippolito, professor of composition at TXST, says Blaché is regularly working on new projects with fellow students and musicians off campus and isn’t afraid to put the work out there and try new things. “Ev has been a great model for how productive and creative students can be at Texas State,” he says.  

With graduation looming in May, Blaché aims to keep singing, composing, and teaching music. But Blaché will miss the support and camaraderie of TXST.  

“It’s the people, whether the professors, my colleagues, and especially my classmates,” Blaché says. “I owe a lot to them. Everybody wants everybody to be better and have success, and that’s my whole thing.”