173 TRANSFER Before transferring to Harding, junior Jimmy Pinzon was an instrumental music education major at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Pinzon had a special hobby: composing music. Pinzon started writing music in middle school and had 28 completed works by the time he came to Harding. Pinzon wanted to teach band and eventually go to graduate school and get a doctorate in composition. His skill became serious when he was in high school after he emailed famous composer Frank Ticheli and asked if he could mentor him. Ticheli responded and agreed to help him develop this skill. Pinzon worked on his skill of composing music and even had some of his pieces performed. Pinzon also grew up in a musical environment. “Some of the greatest pieces of music of all time, [people] have known since the 1600s, and they’re still incredibly popular,” Pinzon said. “Why is that? Because it connects on such a different level than any other art form in my opinion, and I think that it is the most meaningful to me and to a lot of people. That’s the way I get my emotions out; that’s the way I connect emotionally.” Pinzon came to Harding for the like-minded community of mission and entered the Department of Music ready for his new start. Sophomore Kylie James, who was in the music department herself, described what made the department at Harding so special. “The music department has definitely kept me involved,” James said. “It is nice to be able to walk into the building and immediately see someone that I know, but it is also nice to have other social circles outside of the department since I am in the music building so much.” The music department provided Pinzon with new opportunities and relationships with others. One of them was senior Erin Fouss, who talked about her first thoughts about Pinzon’s compositions. “[Initially] I was like, okay, I’ll believe it when I see it because that’s just my genuine first thought about student composers to be honest,” Fouss said. “Then he played some of his stuff, and I was like, okay, this is more legit than I thought.” Written by: Mattie Powers PINZON AND PIPES Junior Jimmy Pinzon finds his new home in Harding’s Department of Music. A TREBLED MAN Junior Jimmy Pinzon plays his instrument. Pinzon worked to increase his music skills with the Harding music department. Photo by: Julianne Baker
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