CWU Student’s Musical Composition To Be Featured On TVW Network This Year

A musical composition by CWU student Aaron Rausch will be broadcast around the state this year as the state government news network TVW celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Rausch's work recently was selected as the winning entry in the TVW Music Composition Contest, a partnership between the Olympia-based broadcasting company and CWU that sought to develop an original "jingle" to accompany the network's 2020 programming.

The winning composition began airing on the network at the start of the legislative session in January and will be used throughout the year.

"All of the competition entries were excellent in their own way, but our team felt Aaron's interpretation of TVW's identity best fit our rebranding needs as we enter our 25th year," TVW President Renee Radcliff Sinclair said. "Aaron's composition captured the sound we were looking for and the essence of who we are."

As part of their contest entries, Rausch and the other participating CWU music majors submitted two versions - a five-second jingle and a 30-second extended track - along with sheet music and a visual summary of their composition processes.

A committee made up of representatives from CWU and TVW reviewed the entries in December and selected Rausch as the winner. He will receive a $500 music department scholarship and was invited to attend the annual TVW Gala on February 13 at the Hotel RL in Olympia.

The CWU junior, who specializes in percussion, said the contest provided him with the motivation he needed to start refining his musical composition skills.

"This was the kind of opportunity I had been seeking for a long time, and this contest gave me all the encouragement I needed," said Rausch, 21, a native of Richland. "I've been making music for a long time, but I've never had a chance to showcase my work. This gave me a chance to write something original and share it with others."

Rausch said he would like to incorporate musical composition into his career someday, possibly writing themes for TV shows and movies. He credited CWU professor Mark Goodenberger with showing him how the process works.

"Dr. Goodenberger has been a big inspiration for me because he's worked on a lot of these themes over the years," Rausch said. "I hope writing music will become a big part of my career, too, and this contest might be the gateway."

The composition contest came about last year when CWU's assistant director of government relations, Antonio Sanchez, began pitching the concept to members of the music department. CWU associate professor Bret Smith helped promote the idea within the department, and after working out the details with TVW, the contest launched in November 2019.

"Antonio is a huge advocate of our music department, and he felt this contest would help build interest in CWU, our department, and our students," Smith said. "It ended up being a great opportunity because the contest allowed our music students to be the stars of the show. It also gave them a chance to do something that they may end up doing in their careers."

TVW has been providing gavel-to-gavel coverage of the legislative, judicial and executive branches in Washington since 1995. Radcliff Sinclair said her team was looking for a simple yet catchy sound bite that would bring attention to the 25-year milestone, and also help carry the TVW brand into the future.

"We wanted to engage with a world-renowned music education program to find a new signature sound that would serve as a celebratory piece now, and well into the future," she said. "Because of Central's stellar reputation in the world of music, CWU just seemed like a natural partner."

Rausch will be recognized for his winning contest entry at the TVW Gala later this month. Among the attendees will be business leaders, state agency directors, legislators, members of the Washington State Supreme Court, and Governor Jay Inslee.

Radcliff Sinclair said the gala is a "light-hearted event that is designed to provide a few moments of fun and laughter at the midpoint of the legislative session." TVW will present a short video featuring Rausch, who was asked to chronicle his composition process. Rausch said winning the contest feels like the start of something big for him.

"I'm super excited that my work was selected because it shows me that I've made it," he said. "Now I can keep exploring."

Media contact: David Leder, Department of Public Affairs, 509-963-1518, David.Leder@cwu.edu.