Editor’s note, Nov. 29, 4:50 p.m.: This story has been updated throughout.

Bali, wine glasses and a fairy drag mother – these were all part of the Meadows concert, Emerging Sounds: New Works by Student Composers on Saturday.

The concert is the music composition program’s bi-annual presentation of original student work. This year’s planning committee, made up of undergraduate student composers Gillian Perry, Brandon Carson and Kali Stewart, selected the 10 pieces that were heard in Saturday’s show.

“It’s a student-run event,” Carson said. “We get together and the faculty doesn’t even know anything about what’s going on and we make all of the decisions.”

Compositions ranged from fast-paced patterns to soft melodies, while instruments included everything from drums and vibraphones to cellos, harps and pianos.

One of the most unique performances of the evening featured Carson playing a set of wine glasses intended to sound like an Indonesian Gender Wayang, a percussion instrument native to Bali. He was inspired to produce the piece after his SMU study abroad trip to Bali this past summer.

“I was just fascinated by the music there,” Carson said.

Carson’s showcase was also unique because he performed part of his own piece. Many students elect to have their pieces performed by music performance majors or other students in the composition program, rather than play their own work.

“Being a composer to me is a lot more than sending off some notes to some other musician to play,” Carson said. “You write it, you play it, you’re just a musician more than a composer, so it’s fun to be part of the whole process.”

The writing process for students varies depending on factors like length, style and instrument. Perry began by sketching melodies before creating an outline and filling in notes. Her piece, “Echo,” was based off of a poem by the same name.

She began writing the piece for her primary instrument, piano, and two sopranos in September.

“The comp department is kind of on a vocal kick right now,” Perry said.

Two other vocal pieces were showcased in the concert, including a micro opera entitled “All That Glitters” by graduate student of music composition Olga Amelkina-Vera.

It was in a private composition class that Amelkina-Vera began working on her piece. Based on a libretto by Michelle Alexander, Amelkina-Vera’s comedic micro opera performance featured a Cinderella-esque character who meets her fairy dragmother.

“It was very exciting,” Amelkina-Vera said. “I felt like all of the performers did so great tonight, and all of the ideas that we had worked on came through so clearly.”

Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition Lane Harder taught Amelkina-Vera during her writing period and saw the finished product Saturday night.

“There was a lot of potential for train wrecks and for things to go wrong, and things didn’t go wrong,” Harder said. “And that’s a testament to how sharply and how clearly the music is actually written.”

Each Emerging Sounds concert offers music students the opportunity to showcase their composition skills in terms of style and ability.

“I like that the students aren’t here to write in one particular style or one particular effect,” Harder said. “They’re hear to write music that they love, and I think that really shows.”

The spring Emerging Sounds concert will be held Saturday, April 16, 2016.

“This is exciting; this is the future of music that you’re getting to hear,” Perry said.