"Symphony of a Million" is a music commissioning project that brings together composers, performers, and the general public.

The goal is to sell 1 million notes. Purchased notes will be used in not just one single million note work, but rather many new works. Composers will work with performers and compose pieces of varying lengths. The first work to be written will be a 1000 note work for solo marimba composed by Music Academy Online founder, Dave Schwartz, and written for percussionist Nobue Matsuoka. The second work will be a 4000 note composition for saxophone and harp and it will be composed by Anthony Lanman who will be working with saxophonist Dr. Noah Getz and harpist Jacqueline Pollauf who perform together as the duo Pictures on Silence.

A premiere concert featuring all of the works created from the 1 million-note total is planned for May 18, 2011, the anniversary of Gustav Mahler’s death. Mahler’s 8th Symphony is popularly referred to as the “Symphony of a Thousand” due to the expansive forces used in the work. Gustav Mahler is famous for having said, “A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.” David Schwartz thinks that the “Symphony of a Million” project parallels Mahler’s sentiments in that “the music will contain everything, the listener, the composer, and the performer who all contribute to the creative process for creating new music.”

Everyone who buys a note will have the opportunity to see where and how his or her notes contributed to the creation of music. “In fact,” says Schwartz, “each score will include an appendix so that purchasers can find their notes in the score. Their names will be indelibly linked to that particular piece of music for all of time. One friend of mine from Great Britain is getting together with his friends to raise money and buy a large number of notes that they will then dedicate to a loved one who recently passed away. I can’t think of a better memorial than music.”

Your name will be included in the appendix of the musical score where your note appears so you will be able to see where and how your note is used in the music. Select as many as you wish. You will receive a copy of the page or pages on which your notes appear in the new work.

“I have always been baffled and quite frankly, frustrated, when I learn of dinners in which politicians raise millions of dollars for a campaign. If we could just use a few of those dinners to raise money for various causes, imagine what is possible? With the ‘Symphony’ project the money will not only pay for more than a few composers commissions and more than a few performances by different ensembles, it also can serve as an example of what can be done if 1 million people spend 3 minutes spending $1.”

Schwartz goes on to say that this is going to be very much like the old adage about teaching a man to fish and he has food for life. “If we can meet our goal of 1 million notes the future is very bright and Music Academy Online looks forward to being a friendly and reliable resource for composers, musicians, and audiences everywhere…. there is nothing I like doing more than helping someone find a new piece of music to fall in love with.”

The "Symphony of a Million" is about diversity. Diversity of ensembles. Diversity of styles. Diversity of music. The unifying element is people. We all take part in the creative process. You provide the pitches. The composers provide the scores. The musicians provide the sound.

Composers will be paired with ensembles to develop new works of varying lengths.

Each composer will be given a collection of pitches that have been purchased by you. No two compositions will sound the same as each composer will bring their own unique compositional voice and compositional approach to each work. Every approach to the creation of music–from Aleatoric to Neo-Classicism, from Electronic to Serialism–is a creative possibility.

Commissions List

Notes 1-1000: Untitled work for solo marimba, composed by Dave Schwartz; written for percussionist Nobue Matsuoka; status IN PROGRESS

About this piece:

I am excited to be working on this first piece from the "Symphony of a Million" collection. My process for composing this work, and one that I think is absolutely appropriate for this situation, is this. I will be using each of the first 1000 notes that have been purchased in the order that they have been purchased. This is a combination of serial procedure and pure chance. I have been looking at the pitches as they have been coming in and it is pretty neat to see the way the harmonic and melodic field is laying out. I do believe that when I am finished no one will be able to tell that the order of the pitches has been dictated by all of our supporters for "Symphony of a Million!"

— Dave Schwartz

Notes 1001-5000: "Viridian Soliloquy" for saxophone and harp; to be composed by Anthony Lanman; written for Pictures on Silence, Dr. Noah Getz, sax, Jacqueline Pollauf, harp.

About this piece:

I have been waiting for the right duo to come along so I can write my "Viridian Soliloquy" - Viridian being a kind of metallic green color, or more specifically "a chrome green pigment that is a hydrated oxide of chromium" - this duo is perfect. "Cerulean Soliloquy" was kind of frantic, and "Obsidian Soliloquy" was very dark and slow, so this one would be more moderate.

Basically I will organize all my available notes alphabetically so I know how many A's are in my pool of notes for instance. Then, I would probably just compose normally, checking off the notes I have used and logging who's note is where in the score. Basically I would keep doing this until I ran out of notes. Obviously, the closer I got to using them all, that would affect decisions like form, for example

— Anthony Lanman