Composer notes time at UCLA

Some college graduates may continue to wake up in a cold sweat
from nightmares of college finals past, but for David Markowitz, a
UCLA alumnus with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in
ethnomusicology, old college projects are what put food on the
table.

Markowitz is the co-composer for Cornerstone Theatre
Company’s new play “Demeter in the City,” which
was written by Sara Ruhl, an award-winning playwright and Pulitzer
Prize finalist. “Demeter,” which is currently in
performance, will run until June 18 at the Roy and Edna
Disney/CalArts Theater in the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The play is inspired by the Greek myth of Demeter and
Persephone, but relocates them to modern-day Compton, where Demeter
is a single mother lamenting the loss of her daughter
Persephone.

“It’s a play about love, lust and the meaning of
family in the most dysfunctional sense,” Markowitz said.

Markowitz has worked with Shishir Kurup, the director of
“Demeter,” since he was an undergraduate in
UCLA’s Department of Ethnomusicology.

At the time, Kurup was directing a play about the Arab American
community for a L.A. festival and needed a music director.
Meanwhile, Markowitz was studying Arab music under UCLA
ethnomusicology Professor Ali Jihad Racy. Racy recommended him to
Kurup, and Markowitz wound up serving as music director for the
play, which was performed at UCLA.

Nine plays later, the endeavor continues to pay off as the two
remain friends and collaborators, again working as a director and
composer team on “Demeter in the City.”

Markowitz has experienced wide success on other projects, making
music for events at the J. Paul Getty Museum, LACMA and various
plays. His music has also been featured on the TV shows
“Party of Five” and “Weeds.”

Despite Markowitz’s list of achievements and talents,
college began as a foggy course for him. He dropped out after his
first year, but returned with a new focus: music.

He ended up paving the way for future students by being the
first to receive a bachelor’s degree in ethnomusicology from
UCLA. The program began his senior year.

“I actually had to walk across the stage by myself,”
Markowitz said.

However, music has since become a much less solitary pursuit for
the composer.

When he’s not working as a freelance composer, Markowitz
teaches music to high school students at his current home on
Catalina Island.

“I think devotion to an art is a combination of assessing
your own talent and how well you communicate with the world around
you,” Markowitz said. “For me, the thought of only
being able to use words to communicate thoughts and feelings to
people would be a real letdown.”

Markowitz has sage advice for graduates looking to break into
the music business.

“Look at the people around you,” he said. “You
are going to keep in touch with them far longer than those years at
UCLA. They are going to be doing some incredible things with their
lives.”