ETHAN BERL IS a musical virtuoso. From playing piano and trumpet to singing in the all-state honors chorus to performing in last year's all-state musical production ("Les Misérables"), Berl has made a name for himself well beyond the Uni community.

Now you can add "award-winning composer" to his list of accomplishments.

The senior recently placed third in the Illinois Music Educators Association’s statewide music composition contest in the solo keyboard category with a piece he wrote titled “Fantasy.”

He was also named to the all-state honors chorus as a tenor, along with junior Daniel Borup, who sings bass.

Other all-state musicians representing Uni this year are seniors Jennifer Roloff (oboe) and Lucy Zhang (violin I), who were named to the all-state orchestra.

All four will perform at IMEA’s All-State Conference, which will be held from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2 in Peoria.

In addition to performing in the honors chorus, Berl will receive his composition award and critique from the judges at a special session for young composers at the conference.

“It was exciting [to win],” Berl said. “This was the first piece I’d completed. I’d worked on lots of little things before but this was the first piece I actually wrote all the music out for and performed. It was really rewarding.”

Though many people can play music, successfully creating a musical composition an extra level of commitment. Berl attests to the extensive amount of time it takes to formulate a composition.

“I’d been thinking about the ideas in [my piece] for over two months," he said. "I’d been just playing little snippets of it but I hadn’t really put it together into a big piece until about a week before I sent it off [to be judged].”

Not only is composing a serious time commitment, it requires considerable thought and vision.

“To write a good [composition] it takes a lot of planning," Berl said. "You have to have a big view of your piece and also little views of your piece. You need to have themes in your piece that come back again and again in different forms, and you have to plan out how they’re going to work together and how they’ll contribute to the overall effect of your piece.”

Berl’s inspiration for “Fantasy,” a piece reminiscent of the dynamic journey of a slowly rippling stream flowing into and down the mouth of a tumultuous waterfall, comes from a piece written for two pianos by Ravel titled “La Valse.”

“['La Valse'] was a really important piece in the 20th century. It pulls away from some of the nice-sounding things that most classical musicians had written,” Berl said. “[Ravel] was part of the impressionistic time period, and he used a lot of dissonance in this piece, which I liked a lot, and I decided to write a piece in homage to it.”

It was not by inspiration alone that Berl wrote an award-winning piece. Like any good composer, Berl also has a strong musical foundation to thank for his success. He has been playing piano for about nine years, the trumpet for seven years, and has been singing in and out of choirs and musicals nearly his entire life.

He is currently in chorus, madrigals, and orchestra, singing tenor and playing the trumpet. He takes piano lessons and plays that instrument on his own.

“I like piano the most,” Berl said. “At times I’m like ‘I hate this!’ because I have to practice, but most of the time it gives you this incredible outlet for expression.”

Berl can often be found practicing during lunch and his free periods in the South Attic, which is where he performed and recorded “Fantasy.”

“The piano at my house is in my sister’s room, so if I want to play I have to kick her out,” he said.

Berl’s passion for playing at school will most likely carry through into his college years. Though unsure of whether or not he will pursue a musical degree, Berl said he is “definitely going to write more compositions in the future.”

To listen to "Fantasy," click the OG Audio icon in the corner above. For an audio slideshow of Berl performing "Fantasy," click here.

Ethan Berl at the piano. Gargoyle photo by Anna Cangellaris (click to enlarge)