In this interview with KGNU’s Sanford Baran, 17-year-old composer and pianist Vonn Vanier discusses his debut album Dawn, released May 16th on Montclair Records. Vonn shares how his early experience in the Grace Cathedral Choir and time spent self-studying during the pandemic shaped his unique musical voice. His work blends classical tradition with modern techniques, aiming for a balance between innovation and accessibility. Performed by ensembles like the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and Quartet San Francisco, Vonn’s compositions reflect his dual passions for music and mathematics. As he looks ahead to college, he plans to continue developing both. (Interview: 5/26/25)
Sanford: Today, I am very excited to be speaking with 17-year-old composer and pianist, Vonn Vanier, whose debut album, Dawn, is slated for release on May 16th on the Montclair Records label. Vaughn’s original compositions are being performed by prestigious ensembles including the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and Quartet San Francisco. From developing his craft during the pandemic in Wyoming, to his summers at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Vonn’s compositions blend traditional classical forms with modern sensibilities, finding what he calls a middle ground between contemporary techniques and the more accessible side of classical music. Vonn, welcome. A pleasure to meet you.
Vonn: Thank you so much for having me.
Sanford: So your musical journey began in the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys in San Francisco. How did that early experience shape your approach to composition?
Vonn: Well, I think certainly my time in the choir was, first of all, what inspired me to pursue classical music and really gave me an interest in that particular genre of music and it is also really what helped me build the musicianship and the theory and sort of general music knowledge that I have today. And so, you know, I was in the choir from third to eighth grade and it was a professional choir, the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys. And so, you know, being exposed to that sort of rigorous rehearsal schedule and high expectations really allowed me to sort of grow as a musician and learn to read music. And I have especially fond memories of performing works like Mozart’s Requiem and things like that, which really, you know, inspired me to pursue this genre and really helped me become interested.
Sanford: Your development took an unusual turn during the pandemic when you were largely self-directed in Jackson, Wyoming. How did that isolation period influence your musical voice?
Vonn: Well, during eighth grade and a little bit of seventh grade, COVID started and so basically the choir shut down for a year, year and a half or so. And so I really wasn’t able to sing almost at all for all of that time. And so while that was disappointing, certainly, it definitely had some silver lining. It allowed me to pursue one of my growing interests at the time, which was learning about music theory. So I remember studying a few textbooks, reading through a few music theory textbooks, and especially, you know, having a lot more time to improvise on the piano, which I did every day. And so doing that allowed me to apply the theory knowledge I was using. And so very fortunately, when the choir returned to normalcy, roughly at the end of my eighth grade year, they were able to perform my first composition ever, which was a hymn that they played at graduation.
Sanford: You’re not just a musician. You’re passionate about mathematics, too. How do these different interests inform each other in your compositions?
Vonn: Well, I’d say certainly some of my music intakes kind of a mathematical, you know, different mathematical ideas. One of my pieces on the album called OPCI, which stands for Ordered Pitch Class Intervals, uses this very sort of mathematical contemporary music theory concept of ordered pitch class intervals and basically is built out of five different movements which use this particular music theory idea in a kind of different way. But it’s very numerical. It’s very mathematical, the way I use it, to create something that’s, you know, in some ways formulaic, but is also very creative and expressive and artistic.
Sanford: Your other single, Shimmer, blends early 20th century styles with traditional tonality. What composers have most influenced this approach?
Vonn: Certainly that work in particular, there’s a lot of minimalist influence. In general, you know, I take in influence and inspiration from a wide variety of composers across genres, from film composers in the modern day, like Hans Zimmer, to more post-tonal composers like Arnold Schoenberg, and even some more traditional romantic composers like Brahms. And so I think in the piece Shimmer and in my music in general, we really see kind of a wide variety of different styles and characters and sounds in general. So in Shimmer in particular, I use a scale called the whole tone scale, which is known to be very dreamy. In many movies, it’s literally used as sort of the dream sequence scale that always plays during the dream sequences. And then at the same time, I use sort of traditional tonality and chords that Mozart would have used in addition to a chord structure called chordal harmony, which has this very sort of colorful, expansive feeling to it. And so I combine them all into Shimmer to create something very novel and fresh and particularly as the name would suggest, very shimmery.
Sanford: For listeners getting to know your music, how would you describe your compositional style across the full album?
Vonn: At the moment, I’d say it’s certainly very diverse and varied, as I mentioned. You know, if you listen to the rest of the tracks on the album, once it’s released May 16th, you’ll certainly notice, first of all, by the variety of different ensembles that are a part of that album, including orchestra and then some chamber ensembles like string quartet and wind quintet, and then even as small as solo piano, that each piece really has its own distinct, you know, sound to it. So I’d say especially with the orchestral works, they’re very grand and cinematic, you know, high energy, certainly. One of the orchestral works called Lost at Home is inspired by the novel All Quiet on the Western Front and recounts the tale of a World War I soldier. So it’s very, very dramatic, certainly. And then with the chamber works, there are some high energy ones that are really, you know, unpredictable and full of different rhythmic changes, like the string quartet called Jagged. And then there are others that are a bit more playful and fun, like Bloom for Wind Quintet, which is inspired by the expansiveness of Spring. And so it’s very colorful and lighthearted. And then, you know, alternatively, on the solo piano work, OPCI, it’s very much inspired by Schoenberg and much more sort of modern and mathematical in that way.
Sanford: You’re working with some impressive ensembles, the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and Quartet San Francisco. What’s it like collaborating with these professional musicians at your age?
Vonn: Well, I’ve certainly been incredibly lucky to work with, as you mentioned, a wide variety of very talented musicians and performers. The album, first of all, is produced by Jeremy Cohen, who’s won eight Grammy nominations for his work. And, you know, working with these different ensembles and musicians has been incredibly a special and very inspiring experience for me. To hear, you know, the music I write go from paper into a final recording and to be able to collaborate and to give suggestions to these ensembles and really create a final recording that, you know, really embodies the spirit of the piece is truly something special. For the first time, the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra, you know, played the very first note of Lost at Home. It was incredibly, you know, there were no words for it in terms of just how magical it was for me as a young 17-year-old composer to hear that.
Sanford: Many contemporary classical composers struggle with balancing innovation and accessibility. You mentioned finding a middle ground between atonality and more popular classical styles. How do you navigate that balance?
Vonn: One of my goals as a classical composer today is to navigate and to bring a certain freshness to classical music, which will attract broader audiences while making it accessible, such that, you know, my goal is to really bring a popular appeal to classical music and make it something that people, and especially the younger generations today, would want to listen to. And so for me, you know, it’s sort of a balance of rooting myself in the modern culture of classical music, which is very influenced by atonality, while also, you know, including more traditional elements and elements of film that have a more popular appeal. And so in almost all of my pieces, I have really have elements of both. And I think, you know, using atonality and a little bit of unpredictability gives the music energy and gives it life. You know, at the same time, using those more traditional elements, you know, offers the listener something that’s very pleasant and easier to listen to rather than something that might be a little bit more intellectual.
Sanford: Finally, what’s next for you, both musically and academically, as you head to college?
Vonn: So I’m still deciding at the moment on a college for next year, but, you know, we’ll have to decide soon, but I’m hoping to continue pursuing, of course, my interest in musical composition throughout college, as well as, you know, continuing my other interest, which is mathematics. And so I’m hoping to, you know, double major and continue to study both as best I can. And then from there, you know, it’s really hard to know. We’ll see what happens. But what I know for absolutely certain is that musically, I’d like to progress as far as I can and become as much of an experienced and skilled composer as I can in the upcoming years.
Sanford: Vonn Vanier, thank you so much. The album Dawn releases May 16th and I have a feeling listeners are going to be amazed by what you’ve accomplished at just 17. Best of luck with everything.
Vonn: Thank you very much again.
Sanford: This is Sanford Baran for KGNU.
