海角大神

When Kevin Day was a child, he could barely speak due to a speech impediment. Yet he was prodigiously fluent in the language of聽music. His father, a hip-hop producer, and his mother, a gospel singer, noticed their toddler would hum melodies that he heard. They showed him how to articulate them on a piano.聽

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 talk hardly until I was 8 or 9 years old,鈥� says the native of Arlington, Texas, who had a stutter. 鈥淢usic was sort of my way of self-expression when I couldn鈥檛 verbally communicate what I felt.鈥�

Now in his mid-20s, Mr. Day is breaking racial and age barriers in classical music. His work has already been performed at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, and Rachmaninov Concert Hall in Moscow. In April, he will conduct a new work at Carnegie Hall in New York. And this Thursday, he will debut a piece for the Boston-based Sheffield Chamber Players.聽To reach these pinnacles, the young Black composer has had to overcome acute challenges. Mr. Day鈥檚 life story is a testament to the revivifying power of music. His ambition is to compose works that have a similar effect on listeners.

鈥淗e is driven, but he is so uplifted and soothed and buoyed by music that I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 a choice for him,鈥� says Cynthia Johnston Turner, dean of the music faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. During her previous post at the University of Georgia, she successfully recruited Mr. Day for a master鈥檚 program. 鈥淗e has a lot of resilience, but let鈥檚 not ignore the fact that the systems are stacked up against him.鈥�

Early influences

Mr. Day鈥檚 work is influenced by life experiences as much as by musical notes. When he was around 10 years old, his family鈥檚 struggles deepened. His father could not work because of a disability and his mother was unable to find a job. Sometimes there was no electricity or water in the house. As bills piled up, the family was evicted and had their car repossessed.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 make a big deal out of this stuff,鈥� Mr. Day writes in an email after a Zoom interview. 鈥淚鈥檓 always looking forward and try not to look back, if only for reflection.鈥�

Still, the young composer鈥檚 childhood memories often have a halcyon hue. Mr. Day cherished the opportunity to learn euphonium and tuba in marching band at school. His best friend from church, Davion Moulton, would help write beats for songs when they weren鈥檛 watching 鈥淪tar Wars.鈥� Mr. Moulton aspired to direct movies. Mr. Day dreamed of being a film composer. They seemed destined for future collaborations.聽

In 2015, Mr. Moulton was murdered in a shooting at a party. When the news reached Mr. Day 鈥� then a freshman at Texas 海角大神 University in Fort Worth 鈥� he sank into a depressive state. It lasted for years. Though Mr. Day contemplated quitting music, he recalls the day in which he sequestered himself inside a piano practice room. His fingers began to improvise a melancholy minor chord motif. As the melody progressed, it brightened into something more hopeful.

鈥淪omething like spiritual, divine took place because, for the first time in a long time, I felt like someone might be watching over me and someone up there really cares,鈥� says Mr. Day, who titled the composition 鈥淏reathe.鈥� 鈥淭hat moment was a turning point. That piece was sort of my way of telling myself, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to be OK.鈥欌�� 聽

When he鈥檇 fully recovered about a year later, the composer鈥檚 friends pointed out something he hadn鈥檛 even noticed. He鈥檇 completely stopped stuttering. 鈥淢usic聽literally did heal me,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t transformed me, in a way, to the person I am now.鈥�

鈥淪pirit of resilience鈥澛�

On Jan. 27, Mr. Day will be in Massachusetts to attend of his String Quartet No. 5, which will be performed live in Waltham and streamed online. The Sheffield Chamber Players approached Mr. Day 鈥� as well as renowned composers such as Osvaldo Golijov and Kenji Bunch 鈥� to create new works for the group鈥檚聽next few seasons.

Mr. Day says the two contrasting movements in String Quartet No. 5 represent the introspective and extroverted aspects of himself.聽鈥淚t鈥檚 a piece about where I鈥檓 now currently as a composer, where I am as a person, dealing with self-discovery, self-love, self-worth,鈥� he says.聽Arranged for two violins, a viola, and a cello, the new work lends itself to simplicity and nuance, says the composer.

To date, Mr. Day鈥檚 200-plus compositions include works for concert bands and chamber and symphony orchestras. He鈥檚 keen to branch into contemporary music, including hip-hop and jazz. He is also earning his doctorate in聽musical arts in composition at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.

His parents are proud of his achievements, he says, but adds with a laugh that they still remind him to take out the trash when he visits. 鈥淚 have this sort of spirit of resilience that I鈥檝e kind of inherited through them,鈥� says Mr. Day.

It鈥檚 given him a sense of urgency to create music that bolsters listeners going through difficult times. 鈥淚 know what it is to have to persevere. My goal is to try to help others as well.鈥�