Ann Wilson (she/her) met Katahj Copley as they were both studying at the University of West Georgia in 2018. Currently, Ann is finishing a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and will be graduating in May of 2022. After graduating, she plans to be a band director and hopes to create an authentic environment for students to share their musical experience.

 

Ann has known Katahj for five years and has been working with him musically since. As his program annotator, she is responsible for notating Katahj’s music into words. When asked about Katahj’s music, Ann said:

 

“I met Katahj Copley after his first premiere- Spectra. At the time, I was a young music major who saw someone doing what they loved, and it made me think about what I love- writing and music. I never thought I would have the opportunity to do both, but one day, Katahj asked me for feedback on program notes about a piece that was going to be premiered soon. After reading them, I rewrote the whole thing and that’s how I later became a part of his team. As a close friend of Katahj, I’ve always loved listening and writing about his music, however, I never thought to form an honest opinion about what his music means to me until I was asked for one. At the time, I didn’t have the answer, but now I do: Katahj’s music is meaningful- it has the power to change someone’s life. Some days, I find it difficult to put his musical emotions into words because of the maturity of his knowledge, but I’ll never stop trying. I hope that everyone has the opportunity to simply listen to his music- there is always a lesson to learn.”

 

For program note inquiries, Ann can be contacted via email at notesbyann@gmail.com.