By Lian Bunny
Staff Writer
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) recognized Leslie Sabina, professor of music and chair of the visual and performing arts department for the 18th time. ASCAP distributes MusicPlus awards to composers with impressive catalogues of work and extensive performance venues.
To receive this award, the composer must be proactive and provide evidence of the compositions being performed. The catalogue of works and venues are taken into consideration at a panel to evaluate the accomplishments and decide whether they are award worthy. According to Sabina, groups like ASCAP have databases where they store records of past performances.
Sabina has received this award consecutively since 1995.
“It’s nice to be recognized by those who know what you do,” Sabina said.
Sabina, a composer of more than 70 published works, writes many of his compositions for the academic level of high school to college. The Jazz Band played his original compositions “Down N’ Up,” “Hotter Sauce” and “Maximum Trajectory” in their last concert.
Although Sabina composes mainly jazz, he also arranges classical music. He said his writing process consists of experimenting with chord progressions.
“If my publisher says he needs something, he’ll usually give me a style,” Sabina said. “If I want something more traditional or something more modern, there are certain chord progressions. While I’m playing, I’m thinking of a chorus in my head.”
Being a member of ASCAP benefits Sabina’s career as a composer, he said. The organization protects the copyright of his works to ensure another artist doesn’t use it without paying the proper fees.
According to Sabina, ASCAP takes care of performance payments and foreign payments. It tracks when his works are performed or played internationally and pays him for the usage of his compositions.
“They have agreements with foreign performance rates organizations so I actually get royalties,” Sabina said. “One of my songs was used for Animal Planet in Malaysia so I got money for that.”
ASCAP consists of more than 80,000 members who are composers, songwriters, lyricists and music publishers. This organization protects the interests of smaller, local artists who aren’t well-known.
“Guys like me don’t get a lot of royalties, because we can’t compete with people like Kenny Chesney or Lady Gaga,” Sabina said. “Every time one of their songs is played on the radio or on Spotify, they get money back. That is the reason for these awards.”
As a professor of music and a saxophone player, Sabina is well respected by his students for his successes as well.
Junior marketing major Arin Liszka took Sabina’s Understanding Music class and Jazz and Concert Band.
“Dr. Sabina is one of the best professors that I’ve had here at St. Bonaventure,” Liszka said. “He is a great example of someone who has pursued something that he loves and is great at, which is always something to look for in a role model.”
