The St. Thomas Wind Ensemble worked with electric viola player and composer Martha Mooke this week on the commissioned piece, titled “Skandhas.” Mooke worked on one of her pieces with the St. Thomas Orchestra as well.

Music Department Chair Matt George said the university has been commissioning pieces for more than 20 years and called the process “a mainstay of our program.”

“Students always feel enriched having gone through the process. I think it just has caught on, and it’s become known as something that we do here that’s unique to St. Thomas,” he said.

George feels that commissioning a new piece has many benefits for students. The commission allows the university to add to the repertoire of wind band or orchestra music, as well as spread the name of St. Thomas across the globe.

“One of the biggest benefits is that the students are involved in the creative process,” George said. “They start from the very beginning and then toward the end, before performance, we as often as possible try to bring the composer on campus to work directly with students, so it’s really a collaboration.”

Students in the wind ensemble who worked with Mooke on “Skandhas” in rehearsals Tuesday and Thursday agreed with the benefits of working directly with the composer of a piece.

“I think it’s cool to be able to hear exactly what the composer wanted it to sound like. Usually we play composers who either aren’t here or have already died,” junior Naomi Latt said.

Freshman Ryan Smith agreed that meeting with the original composer helped him understand the piece the ensemble is performing.

“Meeting the creator of the music, having her understand it more than I do, it allows me to then understand it more and makes it easier for me to play,” Smith said.

Junior Maya Woodfill added that she likes being able to see the composer enjoy their work.

“It’s nice to see how happy the composer is when they hear what we worked on for them, and it makes it a lot more enjoyable for us,” she said.

The commissioning process, from the initial contact to the finished piece, takes 1½ to 2 years on average, according to George. George met Mooke at a conference about 1½ years ago.

“What I was most impressed with was her resume and the people she’s played with … She crosses over classical and rock and popular music, and I thought this would be a unique experience for our students to have this person come on campus who has crossed over into many different genres,” George said.

The commissioned piece will debut Sunday.

Lauren Schaffran can be reached at scha7492@stthomas.edu.