Lakewood student a winner in music competition
BY PATRICIA YOCZIS Correspondent
Ian Vogler admits he had butterflies the first time he heard his statewide winning musical composition "Sunset" played at Westminster Choir College, Princeton.

Lakewood High School junior Ian Vogler created a musical composition based on the 1892 painting "Sunset" by George Inness and won a grand prize in the pre-college category of the third annual Pictures 2008 Music Composition Contest sponsored by the New Jersey Arts Collective.

"I hoped everything would go OK," said Ian, who is a 17-year-old Lakewood High School junior. "After it was over, I was calm and thought it went well. It was a very good day for me."

Ian was a grand-prize winner in the pre-college category of the third annual Pictures 2008 Music Composition Contest sponsored by the New Jersey Arts Collective (NJAC). The contest involved a study of the 1892 painting "Sunset" by George Inness and the composition of music inspired by the painting.

The music, which had to be at least three minutes in length, was to be written for a trio of instruments: the piano, the viola and the clarinet. On April 4, Ian's composition was first performed publicly by the internationally acclaimed Halcyon Trio (Andrew Lamy, clarinetist, Brett Deubner, violist, and Gary Kirkpatrick, pianist).

"The painting depicted the sun setting behind some trees and had some shaded area," said Ian. "Sunset and sunrise both focus on the best parts of the day with so many colors. Those are the emotions I tried to present in a classical music style."

It was Ian's first entry in a music composition contest. He said music and art are similar and both are fine arts.

"Both express emotions," said Ian. "I hear music everywhere - in a simple heartbeat and in the tone and beat of words. Music is universal and makes the world a better place."

A career in music is in Ian's future and he is on a college search now.

"Music will always be a part of me and runs through everything I do," he said. "The competition helped me narrow my choices to music composition and jazz performance, plus the award is good for my résumé."

In addition to studying music in college, Ian has an interest to study early European history with all its spectacular events, including the Vikings and the rule of the British Empire.

At Lakewood High School, Ian takes honors courses and said physics is an interesting subject. He is captain of the varsity bowling team, assistant drum major for the marching band, a baritone saxophone player in the concert band and a member of the Tri-MMusic Honor Society. He also acts in plays, including the current spring musical, "Sweet Charity."

"I'm in the first five minutes of the musical and then I go to the orchestra pit to play the bass guitar," he said. "My dad plays bass guitar until I get there in the pit."

Mark Vogler, who has a master's degree in music composition from Temple University, Philadelphia, said his son started to study the saxophone in the fourth grade.

"Then Ian taught himself the guitar, bass guitar and the piano," Vogler said. "Our daughters were in the high school marching band, too."

Now, Vogler said his daughter, Sarah, 25, is in graduate school for flute performance at Radford University, Radford, Va., and Amanda, 20, is studying English and writing at Green Mountain College, Poultney, Vt.

"My wife, Regina, is president of the marching band's Lakewood Band Boosters," he said. "I guess there was family influence on Ian's love of music."

Regina Vogler said, "I'm the only nonmusical family member, but I enjoy being surrounded by it.Mark and Ian play every day. It's a household filled with live music."

The music composition contest, she said, gave Ian an insight into what is possible. She said it was great meeting some of the judges and members of the Halcyon Trio who took time to critique the students' music.

"It was a fantastic experience at Westminster Choir College," she said. "I was amazed at the array of musical pieces that resulted from the same requirements."

Vogler believes her son has a lot more to give to music.

"He seems to have a spark within him that he gives to whatever instrument is at hand," she said.

It was Ian's band director, Nicole Delnero, who was his adviser in the competition. Ian wanted to be the one to tell her of his award.

"I was just freaking out," said Delnero, who has a bachelor's degree in music education fromWest Chester University,West Chester, Pa. "I was bouncing around and so proud of Ian. He is a pleasure to work with and gives 110 percent all the time."

Delnero, who teaches 35 students, said, "I try to inspire my students to take chances and see what happens. They have the ability if only they would try."

David Weintraub, Lakewood Public Schools director of fine arts, said Ian is "one of our most active music students and we are all very proud of him for his award-winning composition."

OnApril 29 the Lakewood Board of Education will honor Ian with a presentation recognizing his achievement in the music composition contest.

On May 9 Ian will receive his Pictures 2008 Music Composition award and $200 at the Montclair Art Museum, which houses the George Inness painting "Sunset." The Halcyon Trio will perform the four winning entries.

The other three grand-prize winners are: pre-college entrant Rachael Chastain, senior, Pennsville Memorial High School, Pennsville. In the college category, Michael Mikulka, Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of Arts, New Brunswick, undergraduate in music education, of Sandyston, and Thomas Oltarzewski, Montclair State University, undergraduate in music education and music composition, of Toms River.

The NJAC was established in 2001 to promote the work of living New Jersey artists and to create collaborative events in the fields of music, theater, dance, creative writing and visual art.