Addie Gleason

Freshman Samir Shaik practices the piano during Academic Lab time.

Not many young students dream of becoming a professional composer for a living; among the few is the freshman Samir Shaik.

Shaik started his composing journey in the sixth grade, including not only writing music, but participating in competitions. However, his love of music started at a much younger age. 

“When I was really little, I had like a tiny little keyboard and I would just mess around on it. I feel like that was what first got me into writing music,” Shaik said. 

Shaik discovered his opportunities through his piano teacher and mentor of six years, Patricia Nemish.

“My piano teacher had connections and whenever she finds out about a composition contest or an opportunity, she always let me know. So I have a lot to owe to her because she definitely helped me a lot with how I write and how I get my music out there,” Shaik said. 

For Shaik, writing music has given him more creative freedom than more rigorous subjects such as math. 

“I like it because it’s not super rigid. My family is math and science people, and I’m fine with their subjects. It has so many rules and different ways to get the answer, but I love that with music, There’s no specific guide, so you can do whatever you want,” Shaik said. 

Composing music has given Shaik a new outlook on life.

“I don’t think of life as having a set system of rules like I used to, I think of it more as like everything that you do, is connected, like everything is a consequence of something else. And I think writing music really helped me with that because music is just basically it’s just a long series of questions and answers,” Shaik said. “If I’m being honest, that’s all music is, so writing like that has helped me realize that in life, all life is just a series of causes and effects. So that helped me understand that my actions have weight and they have consequences.”  

Wanting to turn his love of music into a career, Shaik explored the option of receiving courses in composing. 

“I have taken a couple [of] courses I took at Webster University. I took one this past summer at Mizzou, and those are the times I got to have my music played live with like actual musicians, and I got to work with them. And that also just like really fueled my drive to want to become a composer,” Shaik said. 

Hearing his music played was the highlight of his composing career. 

“It was honestly hard to put into words how incredible it was for me because I was working hard for the past week. I was composing; I was writing. I got to go to the campus to hear it played. So it was just insane, and it felt really reassuring that this is something that I want to do. I could feel it felt good. It was just so rewarding,” Shaik said.