lincoln spotlight #1

Lincoln Spotlight is a series of interviews to share the many talents of the members from our community, whether they be students, teachers, staff members, parents or alumni. 

Philip Horlemann, a high school student from grade 12, launched his first musical release on Spotify. After this amazing news, Mr. David Tomasini, our HS Music Teacher, asked him a couple of questions so that we can all get to know him and follow his next steps!

philip horlemann

DT: How old were you when you first became intrigued with music? What did you see or do that sparked your passion for music?
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​PH: Looking back, I think that I've always been intrigued by music, however, a crucial moment in my life in respect to this was definitely when I started learning piano at the age of 6. Since then, I've always had a piano with me wherever we moved and taken piano lessons.

DT: In your extensive piano studies, who have you studied with and which genres and composers of classical music have you performed?

PH: I have had four different piano teachers throughout the years, all of whom directed me more towards the classical genre, which I also enjoy the most. One of my teachers used to say: "If you can play the most difficult classical pieces, you can play every other genre", since classical pieces are known for being the most difficult to play on a technical level. So far, I have been guided by that saying, but perhaps I will expand to other genres in the future. To get back to the question, I have studied composers such as Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven and Rachmaninov.
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DT: Congratulations on publishing your first album on Spotify. What is your Spotify handle and what kind of music are you publishing?

PH: Thank you. On Spotify my alias is "2031" and the two singles I have published so far are in the electronic dance music genre. When composing music, that is the genre that I'm drawn to ​the most, however my single "Rage" is mixed with other genres, like rock, too.
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DT: Who are some of your favorite DJs and EDM artists that inspire your creativity? What have you learned from them?

PH: Artists, who inspire me are David Guetta, Steve Aoki, R3HAB, Don Diablo, Dropgun and many more. From them I have learned things like song structure and melody development​ which I'm always trying to incorporate into my own work.
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DT: How does your classical training in music inspire and shine through in your compositions?

PH: This is difficult for me to say, but I think throughout the years I've developed a better feeling for chord progressions and ​rhythmic elements because of my classical training. When I start composing a song, I also always like to play the melody and chords on a piano before changing them to synthesizers. In that way it's easier for me to come up with them.

Listen to Philip's album on Spotify