Gavin Battig (Submitted photo)
No matter where he lives, the music remains the same — top-drawer all the way.
Gavin Battig calls Florida home these days, but the 17-year-old composer and musician spent two years at Oak Harbor High School while his father was finishing his career at NAS Whidbey.
While on The Rock, he made friends such as Coupeville basketball star Ja’Kenya Hoskins, who sent me down the musical path which led to Battig.
Inspired as a young child by the Baby Einstein DVD series, he quickly found a love for classical music, which he soon made his own.
“I was always given instruments to play, such as a toy piano or drum sets and things like that,” Battig said.
After beginning piano lessons at age seven, he quickly developed a great joy for music, with his skills growing at an often astonishing rate.
“I have been classically trained by the same teacher, and have always loved and grew up with classical music,” Battig said.
“I was always told by my teacher that I have been exponentially better at playing than years past,” he added. “And have grown exponentially at my playing skills to the point where I have been playing classical pieces that he performed for his college-level recitals.”
Now a senior at Fleming Island High School, located a short drive from Jacksonville, Battig has added a variety of musical instruments to his skill-set.
He currently plays the drums, marimba, vibraphone, trombone, tenor saxophone, trumpet, baritone, and both the bass and acoustic guitar.
But the ivories still call his name.
“I have always been drawn to the piano the most,” Battig said. “It is such a beautiful and graceful instrument with such potential in playing some of the most beautiful sounds known to man.”
Along with playing, he has developed deep skills as a composer, crafting 100+ pieces after writing his first work, Ember Tree, in 2015.
Battig, who’s working on an orchestral symphony, has crafted compositions for concert bands and string quartets, as well as solo pieces for trombone and piano.
He shares his work with other students, as well, using Google Classroom.
“I have always wanted to teach composition, which is why I started to open up to this idea of actually fulfilling this dream,” Battig said.
It’s a path he’d like to continue down as he moves forward in his own journey.
“This composition thing and playing music isn’t a side gig for me going forward,” Battig said. “It has largely been a huge focus of mine almost all of my life, and I plan to continue that throughout my future and college.”
He plans to study music composition, with hopes of earning a doctorate degree.
“I want to teach at the collegiate level, and also compose at the same time and direct bands and orchestras if I can, hopefully around the world,” Battig said. “I would love to be known globally for my music, but that all starts here in this country I believe.”
While Baby Einstein launched his love of music, now some of the biggest composers in music history help guide his career.
“My biggest inspirations are mainly classical composers,” Battig said, citing Frédéric Chopin and Claude Debussy.
“Many of my pieces today have a similar style to his (Chopin), and he invokes so many feelings that I just am so inspired by when listening to and playing his pieces,” Battig said.
“Impressionist music in the classical world (like Debussey’s) is something I try to recreate, which is evoking emotions and a story through my music.”
Battig also gives a large amount of the credit to his longtime music teacher.
“He has been so helpful in my journey as a pianist, and has always been an amazing teacher and pianist, and it is so inspiring to me to keep getting better.”
The ability to create deep emotion through music, whether accomplished by legendary composers or through his own work, is what drives Battig’s appreciation of the art.
“Music is so inspiring,” he said. “It evokes emotion, it tells a story, it does so much within a certain amount of time. It’s an entire language in of itself, it tells a story without words a lot of the time.
“Music is powerful; it moves man to sadness and excitement and hope and sorrow,” Battig said. “It can change your mood and attitude within seconds.
“That power inspires me to do the same with my own music. It inspires me to play with so much emotion and to tell a story when I play music that is not my own as well.”
Battig makin’ magic on the piano:
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