ASHLAND — Simon Kuhn’s interest in music has spanned his adolescence.
His own ambition has shown him recently that it can be more than a hobby — it could be a career.
The Ashland High School senior’s passion for music ballooned while he attended middle school in Bucyrus. A request from a friend in high school — prompting Kuhn to create original music for a project — revealed how deeply rooted his interest was to compose.
“I was listening to some of my favorite composers like (Modest) Mussorgsky, (Igor) Stravinsky, (Gustav) Holst, all that kind of stuff and I’m like, ‘I want to try and make something like this,'” Kuhn said Thursday.
The 18-year-old spent weeks composing a five-movement programmatic piece depicting different beasts, creatures or deities from mythology — inspired by his favorite composers.
That piece, titled “Mythics,” will be performed Saturday by the Ashland Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. inside Archer Auditorium — led by Grammy Award winning music director and conductor Michael Repper.
‘It’s worth a shot, right?’
Having a professional orchestra play an originally-composed piece will be an asset for Kuhn as he explores pathways after high school, he said.
But the opportunity wasn’t something that just arrived. He had to take a chance on himself.
“I didn’t really think they’d (ASO) ever even get back to me,” Kuhn said. “I just sent an email and I’m like, ‘Hey, I made this piece. I think it’d be cool if you guys could play it.'”
Repper said one of his and the symphony’s biggest missions is to be an orchestra “for the community.”
“I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing in my career if there hadn’t been people who looked out for me when I was young,” he said. “I was so excited to get this email from Simon (Kuhn) with his music. It looked great.”
“Mythics” fits in “perfectly” to what ASO has planned for Saturday, Repper said. It will be a Halloween-themed concert, with attendees encouraged to come in costume or festive attire.
Repper said classical music is a very difficult field to break into. He said he’s inspired by students like Kuhn and Kayla Selan — a 2024 AHS grad currently pursuing a conducting career at Cleveland State University.
“There’s this mantra that young people aren’t into classical music and young people don’t like classical music,” Repper said. “That’s not true. It’s blatantly not true.
“The issue that the industry has sometimes is finding ways to actively encourage people to participate in a way. I think that for people like Simon (and) Kayla who have these goals in classical music, it’s incumbent on orchestras and organizations like ours to be very active in generating opportunities.”
Military provides route to further education
Marty Kral, director of bands, Music Department chair and district fine arts coach at Ashland City Schools, said once Kuhn expressed wanting to further his education after high school, the mission became how to get him there.
This past spring, Kuhn enlisted at age 17 in the Ohio Army National Guard. Over the summer, he attended basic training at Fort Benning in Georgia.
The Ohio National Guard Scholarship Program pays 100 percent tuition to state colleges and universities or to approved trade certification, credential-certifying and licensing programs.
“It takes all those restrictions off of life. It just makes it attainable now,” Kral said.
AHS has a college career fair coming up in November and Kral said he plans to introduce the senior to several representatives in attendance, knowing getting a special scholarship or audition money isn’t the make-or-break.
If he could wave a magic wand, Kuhn said he’d love to attend either Cleveland State University or Ohio State University.
“They both have really good music programs,” he said.
After college, Kuhn plans to attend Officer Candidate School. But he’d also like to compose music for things like movies, video games and television shows.
The 18-year-old’s experience so far in the Ohio Army National Guard has taught Kuhn that he can push himself further than he thought he could.
“They really want you to become the best person, the best soldier you can be,” he said.
Kuhn’s musical knowledge is expansive
Listening is the first step in Kuhn’s process. That leads to experimenting with possible melodies or harmonies — a process of trial and error.
“Usually, I start with lower bass instruments and then I build up from there,” he said. “You want to have a good foundation before you start with everything else.”
But the job isn’t complete there. Once a piece is “finished,” Kuhn spends time polishing and refining portions where improvements could be made, identifying moments where more time may be needed to breathe or the specific timing of page turns.
So how is this all possible to create without a full orchestra at Kuhn’s disposal?
The AHS senior uses an online program known as MuseScore, a free music notation and composition software. It has a library full of computerized instruments to help composers get an idea for what their piece will sound like.
“You have to know all different kinds of harmonies, your scales, your different classes, how long each note is played — what is it. You have to know that (to use it),” Kuhn said.
Besides composing music, the senior also participates in marching band, symphonic band and jazz band at Ashland. He plays the French horn, electric bass and mellophone.
He said learning and knowing different instruments has been helpful when it comes to composing.
“Knowing what that instrument is capable of doing and what would be really difficult to do on an instrument helps,” Kuhn said. “That’s also why when I’m composing a piece, I’ll show it to some of my friends or people who actually play that instrument and ask, ‘Can this instrument actually do this or should I change this?'”
AHS provides strong support system for students
Repper said he was fortunate to have mentors who looked out for him on a very active level when he was young.
“That brought me into the fold in a way that I could then grow,” he said. “I hope this experience will be similar for (Kuhn).”
Kral and others in the department have exhibited that same level of mentorship for Kuhn and others.
The sky is the limit for Kuhn, Kral said.
“He has been a great addition to the Ashland program since he got here and I think we’ve been good for him,” Kral said. “He’s very smart.”
The senior said it’s been beneficial to be surrounded by “people who know people.”
“It’s a really good support system here. A lot of really great people that have helped me on my journey,” Kuhn said.
