🎵 Writing for a Podcast — Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest

In the spring, I had the pleasure of taking a class taught by Steve Mackey where I got the opportunity to get to know the guest professor, Adam Gidwitz, who is an author of children’s book and the creator of the #1 podcast for kids, Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest. Shortly after taking the class, I was deeply grateful to be commissioned by Adam to write music (and play violin, too!) for one of his episodes in his upcoming season (just released, in June 2025!).

SEASON 5, EP. 7: DARLING ROLAND

This podcast is unique in that Adam records himself telling the story to a group of children and weaves their live reactions throughout the episode. Not only is it a presentation of a Grimm fairytale, but also an interactive experience, one that successfully makes online listeners feel as though they are in the room, enjoying storytime together. Consideration of the intended audience also informed my compositional choices, leading me to favor simpler melodic and rhythmic materials that young children can easily understand and relate to.

Working with Adam and his producer, Kailynn West, I learned a great deal about the process of taking someone else’s creative vision and offering various sonic interpretations that do it justice. As requested, I composed two loopable melodies—one for the girl [7:48] and one for the shepherd [30:04]—which also work in harmony when layered together as a duet [38:15]. This was a particularly fun process, and, writing the fiddle music [22:17] and recording myself performing it was a huge honor!