Feature Story
Studying Counterpoint in Paris: Alumna Julia Evans Attends European American Musical Alliance
Recently returned from Paris, France, Julia Evans (‘24) spent this past July immersed in music tradition and history at the European American Musical Alliance (EAMA), building her career as a composer for choral and instrumental works.
PC: Val Lasser
Founded in 1995 by Philip Lasser and Narcis Bonet, EAMA is a four-week intensive music program built on the teaching philosophy of Nadia Boulanger—an influential French music teacher, composer, and musician—that focuses on a deep understanding of the foundations of music.
For Evans, that philosophy came alive in the classroom. While there, she participated in courses covering musicianship, music analysis, and counterpoint, as well as chorale and a composition studio class. She composed a piece for a string quartet that a visiting group from Julliard performed in several reading sessions, and attended a variety of concerts performed by faculty members, guests, and other students.
“One of the things that I loved most about EAMA was how all of the classes, rehearsals, and concerts tied into one another,” said Evans. “Often in music we segment things into little boxes, but while I was at EAMA I felt like I was receiving a comprehensive and integrated education that helped me to improve overall as a musician, not just as a composer.”
Evans learned about EAMA while attending Southern Virginia University from former composer-in-residence Andrew Maxfield, who taught his composition lessons in the EAMA style. An alum of the EAMA program, Maxfield worked with small groups of students at Southern Virginia and placed a large emphasis on counterpoint–when two or more melodic lines in a composition function independently but complement each other.
PC: Val Lasser
“Pretty early on I think he could tell that I had some interest in counterpoint and studying more, so he talked to me about EAMA and his experience,” said Evans. “Andrew was the best composition teacher I could have asked for in my undergrad—his teaching style really resonates with me, but he has also continued going above and beyond, even remotely and after our time at Southern Virginia, to help me prepare for a future career, which has really been amazing.”
After graduating from Southern Virginia University as a music major with concentrations in music history and literature and music industry, Evans worked as a piano accompanist for the SVU choirs. She also worked as a musical assistant for composer Jennifer Lucy Cook, and was commissioned to write a piece for soprano Chelsea Helm to perform as part of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale.
In addition to EAMA, Evans attended a four-day composer’s academy last fall with GIA Publishing, one of the leading choral music publishing companies in the world. She is currently pursuing a master of music in music composition at DePaul University in Chicago.
“I think that now more than ever we need culture and music and art that reminds us what it is to be human, what it is to be a community, and what it is to live and collaborate as a community,” said Evans. “Music is a great tool of communication, and people that believe so many different things or live in so many different ways can sit in one audience together and can be connected by a shared musical experience.”