Skye Neal is a 14 year old composer and musician from Portland, Oregon. One of her biggest sources for musical inspiration is the gorgeous wildlife of the Pacific Northwest. These sights, sounds, and feelings have worked their way into her compositions, creating rich sound worlds of melodious birdsong, rushing rivers, and towering forests. 

Skye has studied theory & composition with Dr. Mátti Kovler since 2017 and she has participated in Fear No Music’s Young Composers Project since 2018. She is the 2024-25 Composer in Residence for the Junior Orchestra of Yamhill County (JOY), a program providing students with free access to music education. 

Skye's pieces have won recognition by Music Teachers National Association, Oregon Music Education Association, National Federation of Music Clubs, Tribeca New Music, Young Women's Composition Competition, and National Young Composers Challenge. 

Some recent performances (view video recordings):

• In July 2024 the Juilliard SummerComp Ensemble gave two outstanding performances of Season Finale.

• In May 2024 the premier of Adagio for Strings was performed by Lake Oswego High School's Symphony Orchestra.

• In March 2024 the Metropolitan Youth Symphony's Camerata string ensemble performed The Birds. 

• In January 2024, Monica Ohuchi and Kenji Bunch of Fear No Music performed her duet for piano and viola Romance in G Major. 

When Skye isn’t composing or making music, you might find her rowing on the Willamette River or bird watching in a local park.

Ten year old Skye Neal was the youngest composer to be featured on the All Classical Radio program, On Deck With Young Musicians. This interview with Christa Wessel features her pieces Secret Place Suite and Following the Stream.

I wrote Season Finale at the end of the school year when life felt very hectic trying to find a balance between school, rowing, and composing. These three areas of my life are very important to me, so I always want to give full effort into each one even though it means being overscheduled at times. This piece is written in ABA form, with the A section jumping right into in a hurried pace with a perpetual motion theme trading voices throughout. This is meant to capture the stress I felt as I frantically juggled multiple projects and deadlines. In the lyrical B section I enjoy the calm of a slower tempo, a reminder of how important it is to take breaks wherever I can find them. The pace quickens as it moves toward a grand finale, the big arpeggios and triumphant chords representing that great feeling of accomplishment that comes with successfully rising to the challenge. 

Performed by Juilliard SummerComp Ensemble  in July 2024.

I drew inspiration for Adagio for Strings from Samuel Barber's piece by the same name, as well as from the second movement of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony. Its mood is deep and pensive, reminiscent of moving through dense, enveloping fog. As the piece develops, it is momentarily lifted from its dark and somber tone before quickly moving back to the minor key. Later, a triplet theme emerges, intertwined with strained harmonies that build compelling tension and a feeling of anticipation. The piece ends with a sustained chord that slowly fades into nothingness.

Performed by Lake Oswego High School's Symphony Orchestra in May 2024.

Trio Sonata No. 1 in C Major begins by jumping directly into the exposition, with a very jubilant main theme. Afterwards it transitions to a softer, more peaceful second subject. The melody trades between the flute and the violin before diving into a quick development section. Following a long crescendo passage, the main theme returns to round out the piece.  I love writing sonatas because of how the constrained structure unlocks a whole world of creative freedom. 

Performed by Fear No Music's Young Composers Project in April 2024.

As an enthusiastic birdwatcher, I was inspired to write The Birds to highlight birdsong and bird behavior. The opening movement revolves around my favorite shorebirds, specifically soras, killdeer, and sandpipers. The hurried flutter of the notes in the main theme captures their song and their hurried steps as they scatter away from the waves. In the second movement, I paint an aural picture of raptors gracefully soaring higher and higher, until they seem to be nothing but a speck of dust in the sky. In the third movement, we hear a melody that imitates the gorgeous spiraling song of the swainson’s thrush, and the cheery calls of the robins. At the end of the piece we return to the sea to listen to the shorebirds once more.

Commissioned by the Metropolitan Youth Symphony's Camerata ensemble, and performed in February 2024.

Romance in G Major is a two-part romance for viola and piano. A romance is a short, light, very lyrical piece often for voice or a solo instrument. The first movement, graceful and smooth, is written in ABA form, the middle section a sharp contrast to the flowing arpeggios of the beginning, with spiccato passages in the viola and the piano taking over the melody. The second movement follows a traditional sonata-allegro form, immediately jumping into a light, bouncing melody that grows and develops as the piece goes on. Later, we hear a second contrasting theme, with more chromatic patterns in the piano, and double stops in the viola creating tension. This tension eventually fades back into the original theme, which leads to a grand finale.

Performed by Fear No Music's Monica Ohuchi and  Kenji Bunch in January 2024.

A minuet is a slow and graceful dance in 3/4 time that is typical of the Baroque and Classical eras. I took some inspiration for this piece from a few of my favorite minuets by Haydn. I especially enjoy how his music can be both elegant and cheerful at the same time. In Minuet, I tried to combine a classical style with my own sense of liveliness to make a light, skipping dance. I hope this piece brings a smile to your face.

Commissioned and performed by the Portland Metropolitan Youth Symphony's advanced orchestra in November 2022

Epiphany started as a tune that popped into my head one day and started growing in complexity and intensity until I finally had to sit down and write it. The main theme is meant to sound like the powerful whirlwind of ideas that were rushing through my head. The melody is split up between the first and second violins, with contrasting sections placed in-between the different variations. At the end, a new melody takes over while the other instruments provide an interweaving counterpoint.

Performed by the Tualatin High School Orchestra June 2022.

I wrote Waltz in Bb Major to combine my love of waltzes with my interest in

exploring new patterns and progressions. In the past, I had included the

waltz form as movements of other works and found them to be highly

engaging, so I was inspired to compose a full waltz for chamber ensemble.

This piece begins with a light, bouncing accompaniment in the piano before

the violin begins to sing with a gorgeous melody, interplaying with some

flourishes in the piano. This theme develops in a conversational style, an

answer to every question, before it jumps to a new, brighter section in the

high register of the piano. However, it's not long before we return to the

original theme and finish with a grand ending. I'm hoping the listener will

imagine a festive ballroom scene with couples dancing and enjoying

themselves in a light and welcoming atmosphere, moving in steps that are

simple and sweet, gradually becoming more intricate as the piece

progresses.

Performed by Inés Voglar Belgique and Judith Gordon at Chatter Sunday concert in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  December 2021

In Following the Stream I like to imagine the sounds I might hear while walking alongside a stream running through varying terrains. First, there is the delicate tinkling of water flowing over pebbles and rocks. As night begins to fall, we enter a woodland forest to find a group of fairies performing their midnight dance. After this, we trek further into the woods and experience the exciting energy of the wilderness and creatures within. In the coda, we emerge from the woods to celebrate the adventures we have had.

Commissioned and performed by the Portland Youth Philharmonic Young String Ensemble in May 2021.