I recently returned from my 4- week stay at the Atlantic Music Festival. An extreme festival to say the least, it incorporates the music of over 40 young composers into concerts along with the music of many classic composers, like Mozart. The experience was surreal- I still remember my first day when twenty or so of us sat down in a lounge together, making jokes and having awkward introductions to one another. I remember we played a game where you gave yourself an anonymous name, and someone put “Beethoven” and I said ‘Alright, who’s Beethoven?’- and immediately people laughed. Someone then started saying “Well Beethoven was a composer of the 17th century, known for his 9 symphonies…” Then from across the room someone yelled “Well recently we can say possibly 10!” and then once more somebody else retorted a geeky joke: “Yeah, he has a 10th symphony. It’s Brahm’s 1st”- instantly everyone was laughing. While I’m glad to be home, I’m going to miss being able to be in a room of up to 40 composers enjoying each other’s mutual geekiness.