A Musical Premiere

Santa Monica-Based Elemental Music Performs Young Palisadian’s Original Piece

By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor

Palisadian musician James Wood recently celebrated the premiere of one of his original works—and he is just 11 years old.

Wood, a fifth-grade student at Palisades Charter Elementary School, told the Palisadian-Post he has been playing the violin for over five years. He was inspired to pick up the instrument by his mother, who also plays.

Though he has explored instruments like the piano and drums, Wood said the violin remains his favorite.

“I’ve been playing it the longest, so it’s easier to know where each note is,” Wood said. “It’s also more complex.”

He said he was previously taking private lessons, and in the last year, he joined Santa Monica-based Elemental Music.

Elemental Music began as Elemental Strings, an after-school youth program designed specifically for elementary school students in 2004. It expanded to middle and high school students by 2010.

Since then, the music education organization has continued to flourish, changing its name to Elemental Music, which now includes programs for strings, band, choir, guitar, full orchestra, chamber music and more.

“Over 2,500 young musicians have participated in Elemental Music programs since 2004,” according to Elemental Music. “While the organization looks a little different these days, the heart of its mission remains the same: to build and nourish an empathetic and diverse community through music programs that can feed the soul. Every programming expansion has been designed to inspire and bring together young people of all backgrounds and experiences through the transformative power of music.”

Professional violist Dr. Josephine Moerschel, who currently helps lead the program, told the Post she began as one of the original teachers of Elemental Strings, coaching the viola section. She became executive and artistic director in 2009.

“The staff has grown, the ages of our students has expanded a great deal,” she explained. “The program started back in 2004 … [with] another music director, but he got a new job, and that’s kind of how it ended up falling into my lap when it did. It was one of the most wonderful surprises. I certainly had not ever envisioned myself going into art administration, but here I am, almost 20 years in, still loving everything that we do.”

Moerschel said Elemental Music has performed a number of world premieres and commissioned pieces by Southern California composers in the past, but recently made the decision to perform a piece written by one of its own students for the first time: “Battle,” the second movement from Wood’s “Suite for String Orchestra, No. 1 Op. 1.”

Wood revealed that he began composing in October 2022.

“Before this piece, I’ve done one orchestra piece and one piano piece,” Wood said. “I usually have a vision, and sit down and write. I think of a melody first and then I think of a chord progression, a note progression.”

When writing “Battle,” Wood said he envisioned a melody with complementary cello notes, then added harmonies.

“And then I showed it to Dr. Jo, along with my first piece,” Wood said, “and she said we could play the second piece at the concert, and I got really excited.”

Moerschel explained that Elemental Music works in nine-week units where students are learning multiple pieces. In preparation for the March concert, Moerschel wanted to program Wood’s piece and assigned it first.

“It was very suspenseful for the students because they all knew that we were going to have this big piece, but they had no idea,” she said. “I told them it was by a living composer, but I didn’t tell them anything else. They were just completely thrilled that they were playing a piece written by one of their peers.

“This was our first premiere written by a student. When [Wood] shared the music, I was so blown away because it was a really mature piece of music and beautiful harmonies. I felt like it was something that would be thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who got to hear it.”

Wood said he sat in on a number of rehearsals after the Elemental Strings Chamber Orchestra received their sheet music, and he and Moerschel provided feedback to ensure the piece sounded perfect in time for the concert.

“Battle” premiered on Saturday, March 4, at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica.

“It felt really good to hear it played by a real orchestra,” Wood said to the Post. “It came together nicely.”

“I think it’s so inspiring for the other students because it’s something that many of them never imagined a kid would be able to do,” Moerschel added. “I think by being a part of the process of hearing James’ piece and getting to play it will hopefully inspire others to think, ‘Maybe I could do that’ and ‘Maybe I’d like to try writing’ … That’s really the best thing we can do for our students, is show them all the possibilities.”

Wood said he is currently doing a bit of composing and seeing how his other sections might fit in, and trying to create another piece that has “longer melodies instead of loops.”

Even at a young age, Wood has proven himself to be a talented musician. Looking ahead, the Post asked one closing question: “Do you think music is something you would like to carry into the future or possibly a career someday?”

“I think I’m definitely going to do it for fun when I grow up,” Wood said in response. “Maybe a career.”