12/14/11 THANKS AND WINDING DOWN
Thanks to all of the amazing support I have received after my good news. It’s nice to know that people are rooting for you and will take time out of their busy days to let you know. And it is above and beyond when someone (Elizabeth Kramer, Peter Berkowitz, Lauren Glapa) take the time to help spread the word. Here is a fine example of what I mean (thanks again, Elizabeth!).
Pretty soon I will be able to write music, celebrate the holidays, and write music. And beer.
11/11/11 COULDN’T MAKE IT UP
I am floored and honored to have received a commission from the FROMM FOUNDATION! I will be writing a new piece for the LOST DOG NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE, so ’nuff said. It still hasn’t registered.
And cheers to my birthday twin, Amy Kirsten, for getting a FROMM as well. August 21st must be pretty proud.
More to come later.
09/09/11 LET IT BEGIN
My last post mentioned the quantum leap into summer, and we have recently had the experience of instant autumn. Rainy, gray, blustery…I hope that it lasts a little longer before winter kicks in. The woolly worm I saw the other day (yes, already) said that I need to go buy a fur coat.
The new semester is under way with a bang. I am up to my gills in course work and teaching. But the good news is that I just started a new piece yesterday and am starting to feel that tingling sensation that precedes oblivion to everyday life. If you see me walking around in a daze, unresponsive to those around me, I swear that I am not being a dick. I’m just feeling something out in my head and…you know: never awaken a sleepwalker.
The piece is going to be called AS A SPELL, AGAINST FALLING OBJECTS (or How I’m Learning to Love Gravity) for large ensemble. What is this large ensemble of which I speak? It is fl, ob, cl, bssn, hn, tpt, trom, two perc, piano, vl 1 and 2, vla, vlc, and DB (all strings amplified). The piece, as of now, is inspired by metaphysics (as always), Thomas Pynchon, Miles Davis/Hermeto Pascoal, Aphex Twin/Autechre/breakbeats, Schenkerian Analysis, Shepard Tones, and my increasing awareness of how useless it is to fight gravity. I am shooting for a March or April premiere here in Bloomington, and I might even be conducting it. When I am finished writing it, I will do a version for full orchestra.
Gotta get back to writing. Golden sections. Tempo calculations. Interval patterns. Counterpoint!
LISTENING TO: John Coltrane Stellar Regions, Archers of Loaf Icky Mettle (Reissue), Flying Lotus Cosmogramma
DIGGING: Belle Espresso from Caffe Klatch, Medjool Dates, cultured almond milk, sleeping with the windows open
05/11/11 SUMMER SKIPPED SPRING
So it is already in the mid-80′s in Bloomington, almost as if spring never happened. It’s already muggy, insecty, and soupy outside, creating sensations I would usually expect two months later. It’s flooded all around the area because of the biblical rains a few weeks ago. Hmmm…
The revision of MINDJOB was premiered here at IU by an ad-hoc group of student performers and Ben Bolter (conductor). Don’t let “ad-hoc” fool you: these players kicked ass and were totally game for anything. The rehearsals were a lot of fun and everyone was incredibly cooperative and eager. Ben and I were both amazed by the discipline and work ethic, not to mention the abundance of good attitudes. Video of the concert is up on my LISTEN page, so go watch (and vote “thumbs up” on YouTube – I might win a pony).
I had a really great time working with the Lost Dog New Music Ensemble in NYC the week before last. They are amazing players, easy to work with, and incredibly determined. I was on a program with some kickass composers: Cristian Amigo, Joseph DiPonio, Garth Edwin Sunderland, and Phillipe Bodin. The premiere of my newest piece, OUROBOROS, was quite exciting and I couldn’t have asked for a better maiden voyage. After the rehearsal I attended, it dawned on me that a premiere is like the 4-minute mile: once it happened, the rest of the world was able to access the necessary info to achieve it as well. So kudos to any group that is premiering a piece, because they are in unchartered territory and have to make it to the other side. If you would like to hear the audio of the recording sessions, it is on my LISTEN page.
Whilst in NYC, I was fortunate enough to go to WD-50. Wylie Dufresne is a hero of mine from Top Chef and No Reservations/Anthony Bourdain, and his restaurant blew my mind. I had never experienced food-as-art until that night, savoring every bite as if it were my last. Wylie was working in the kitchen (I even watched him plate my dinner) and I had a birds-eye view of the action throughout the meal. I hear that the tasting menu is amazing, but we ordered a la carte and were all blown away. Not the cheapest meal on the planet, but worth easily worth it for a special occasion. Just remember to call at least one month in advance: that place is booked solid. The next day we went to one of my favorite restaurants in town, Cafe Mogador, and had a completely satisfying Moroccan brunch. Good times with great friends! Celebrities spotted: Michael Cera, the singer from Kings of Leon, Ami James from Miami Ink, and Wylie.
What’s next for me? I’m open to suggestion…
LISTENING TO: Panda Bear Tomboy, Giacinto Scelsi Anahit, Miles Davis Miles in the Sky, Morton Feldman Coptic Light, Wilco A Ghost is Born
DIGGING: Espresso Toscano from Counter Culture Coffee, long walks, riding my bike
03/17/11 MARCH MADNESS
OUROBOROS is now complete. I sent the parts and score off to the printer (they do amazing work for reasonable prices) and they should arrive for the Lost Dog New Music Ensemble tomorrow. It feels weird to have finally finished this piece; it turned out to be a little more epic than originally planned. I was originally planning on a stylized, minimal, spacious and quirky series of gestures. Somewhere along the way, it became a much different beast. If you live in or near NYC and would like to come to the premieres on April 28th and 30th, please check my performances page for specifics. We would, of course, love to have you!
What next? Me dunno. I am waiting for the instructions to arrive via pony express. I still have to write my 24 hr piece for school, but that is just part of a larger war of attrition, right? I haven’t set text but once and it was a long time ago. Maybe a choral piece? Maybe a piece of coral? Maybe a piece for the L’Histoire lineup? Maybe a more lighthearted piece for harmon-muted trumpet, trombone, double bass, harmonium, piano, drumkit and electric guitar? There is a track called “Little Church” on LIVE EVIL by Miles Davis that was written by Hermeto Pascoal that blows my heart and soul. I would like to try and do something along those lines with a groove threatening to break out in the background. But who knows? Maybe I will just put on a powdered wig and write a string quartet.
LISTENING TO: Radiohead King of Limbs, Seefeel S/T, Animal Collective Feels, John Coltrane Ascension
DIGGING: Shameless on Showtime, Top Chef Masters on Bravo, Counter Culture Espresso Rustico, the rising temperatures and daylight savings time
02/01/11 MORE WINTER
I found out today that I was given an honorable mention in the Finale/Eighth Blackbird contest. I am very humbled to have been picked out of such a large pool of entries and in the company of other great composers. The official release is here. And it was nice to see some B-ton peeps/alums picked (finalist Eric Lindsay, Yotam Haber, Derek Johnson) as well as other composers I have had the pleasure to meet or work with (Amy Kirsten and Daniel Wohl). Biggups!! Super Size!!
Still working hard on the piece for Lost Dog. I will hopefully be finished in a few weeks! After that, who knows? Maybe a string quartet? Maybe two pianos and two percussionists? Maybe harp + kazoo + mark tree?
LISTENING TO: Deerhoof vs. Evil, Franco Donatoni Arpege, various Milton Nascimento tunes, the sound of freezing rain hitting my roof
DIGGING: Shameless on Showtime, Portlandia on IFC, and Kaldi’s espresso
12/11/10 WINTER
It’s here. It’s cold. It’s rainy and snowy. What could anyone expect after this summer?
I’ve been working hard on my piece, OUROBOROS (working title), for the LOST DOG NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE. If you haven’t heard of them, they are fantastical (absolutely). Hopefully I can give them something worthy of their efforts. Needless to say, I am thrilled to have them premiere my piece in April.
Check out my performances page for updates. Also, I have finally posted excerpts from ALARM WILL SOUND’s premiere of my piece MINDJOB from back in July. Damn, they can play! I could’ve written variations on “Chopsticks” and they would have dazzled.
LISTENING TO: Avey Tare Down There, Sufjan Stevens The Age of Adz, Georg Friedrich Haas in vain, Helmut Lachenmann Allegro Sostenuto, Guns ‘n’ Roses Appetite for Destruction
DIGGING: Sirius Icelandic dark chocolate (70%), Top Chef All-Stars, re-runs of Undeclared on IFC, Michael Colgrass’ My Lessons with Kumi
10/12/10 BASIC UPDATE
Finishing revisions of MINDJOB in the next few days, and will then start working on the new piece for LOST DOG NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE. Teaching Counterpoint at IU, doing an independent study on the Ligeti Violin Concerto, eating lots of Korean food, and trying to keep the trees suspended in their current states of vermillion/orange/yellow (Sacral chakra stuff, you know?). This summer was fierce, sweaty, and draining, and I’m pretty sure that autumn will be but a brief deep breath before winter.
Check my performances page for updates about concerts in Cincinnati, the Hudson Valley, and NYC. Will hopefully have a good mix of MINDJOB to post on my listen page soon. Bye.
LISTENING TO: Deerhunter Halcyon Digest, Steve Reich Double Sextet/2 x 5, Claude Vivier Shiraz, Paramirabo, and Lonely Child, George Crumb Dream Sequence, Eric Dolphy Out to Lunch
DIGGING: Eastbound and Down (the most hilarious show EVER), The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, The Trigger Point Self Therapy Manual, walking, Mama’s Korean BBQ
7/21/10 RECOVERY
So I’m back from the NYC performance and the Alarm Will Sound premiere at the Mizzou New Music Festival. Both weeks away from home were sweaty, sticky, and generally draining. But don’t derive any negative connotations: I have been having a blast. The show at Littlefield in Brooklyn was a chance for me to see how a concert with more than one of my pieces might go over. The performances by John Popham, Emily Popham Gillins, Kevin Sims and Bethany Pietroniro were absolutely top-notch despite the fact that the heat index was triple-digits, the piano keys were sticking, and the bartender was throwing empty bottles in the garbage can during some of the more pregnant silences of my pieces. I can’t thank the performers enough for working so hard on my music; it was really a thrill to have them bring it to life. And I can’t thank Daniel Wohl enough for splitting the bill with me. His music is amazing and he is a mighty swell fella at that.
As for the journey to the heartland, I dunno where to begin. To have a group like Alarm Will Sound premiere one of your pieces is a composer’s best-case scenario. These folks take their parts seriously and hold themselves to quite a high standard. They have a sound like no other chamber orchestra and they adapt as necessary to whatever vernacular you put in front of them. Alan Pierson is an amazing conductor and each member of the group is a true virtuoso. The end result was a fantastical concert in a beautiful theater supported by incredible arts patrons and the saintly Mizzou composition faculty (Billy Lackey gets my vote for festival MVP!).
Getting to work with Martin Bresnick and Derek Bermel was quite inspiring. These guys are for real, and their collective experience undoubtedly rubbed off on me. Martin can make any number of cultural and artistic references to music on the spot that flow poetically and are dripping with sage wisdom. His music is succinct, austere, adventurous and miles deep, and his stories are hilarious and heartwarming. Derek is, I believe, the last of his kind (despite the fact that there is no other): a true musician/composer/performer to the core. His knowledge of the rep as well as his ability to demonstrate via performance are unparalleled in his generation (and completely absent in mine). And his music is kick-ass to boot. Both of these guys get gold stars in my book.
As for the other composers picked for the festival, it was an honor to be picked as their peer. Six different pieces by six extremely talented and radically different voices were brought to life (myself not included), and I think that we all learned quite a bit from each other. I think that some enduring friendships and bonds were made and I look forward to hearing what these fine folks do in the future. If you want to check out their stuff, I have linked them on my “links” page: their names are Amy Beth Kirsten, Francisco Cortes Alvarez (sorry, no website yet), Christopher Dietz, Moon Young Ha, Zhou Juan and Paul Dooley. I hope that you have all survived the meal plan at Eva J’s and aren’t permanently crooked from the dorm beds in Discovery Hall.
I cannot forget to mention the incredible generosity of Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield. The gift that they have given to create the Mizzou New Music Initiative is a philanthropic anomaly in a country that needs to put its money where its mouth is. I hope that your efforts pay off over the years and that Columbia, MO becomes a true hotbed of new music. Thanks, once again, for all that you have done!
6/24/10 TICKETS
For tickets and directions to the joint show with Daniel Wohl in Brooklyn, go here.
Working on stereo mixes of my electric guitar pieces for the show. Other than that, beating the heat!
06/13/10 SHOW IS NOW OFFICIAL
Visit the performances page for info about my upcoming joint show with the fantastic Daniel Wohl. It should be a DIY epic of chamber and electronic music.
Damn, I hate the Lakers.
05/07/10 OFFICIALISM
Here‘s the official release from Mizzou. Make sure to check out and support all of the other composers involved (it seems like a very talented, eclectic bunch!).
Here‘s the summary from the good folks at NewMusicBox.
Back to milking the music cow. Her udders are sore, and she is getting testy.
LISTENING TO: Flying Lotus Cosmogramma, Charles Mingus Let My Children Hear Music, Alarm Will Sound a/rhythmia, Eric Dolphy Out There, Big Star Third/Sister Lovers, Tom Waits Bone Machine
DIGGING: Treme, Spinach and Feta croissants at City Bakery, Stonecutters espresso, the new season of Party Down
3/20/oh-10 SPRING FOR DUMMIES
So the blossoms are popping and the sun is thawing my winter bones. No complaints here! In honor of all things in bloom, I might as well announce my big news: I was one of the lucky composers chosen to write for ALARM WILL SOUND at the MIZZOU NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL. I’ve been wrestling with my creative demons over this for a few weeks now, and they are finally crying, “UNCLE!” (I was screaming it myself internally until a couple of days ago). So now the daunting task of writing up to nine quality minutes of music for the most badass chamber orchestra around is upon me, so I must stop typing here. If you see me in public, please remind me to get back to work.
PREMIERES AFOOT: My solo piano piece, “The Open Circuit” will be premiered next month in dazzling fashion by the talented Ms. Bethany Pietroniro at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. Due to disagreements between our management teams, a specific date and time will be announced after negotiations are complete. And if you believe that last sentence, you might just believe anything.
The premieres of at least one (maybe two) new electronic pieces in my Brief Interviews with Hideous Guitars series will be in late April. Check my “Performances” page for info about all of this.
LISTENING TO: Spoon Transference, Flying Lotus Los Angeles, Louis Andriessen Zilver and Disco, Keith Jarrett Fort Yawuh, Charles Mingus The Black Saint and the Lady Sinner, Congotronics 2
READING: Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint, Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
DIGGING: Dakshin Indian Restaurant (Louisville, KY), TAK Thai Restaurant (Bloomington), my new espresso maker, Mahon cheese, and the new season of Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show Great Job!
12/15/09 NEW AUDIO FOR YOUR EARS
Check out the “listen” page for an excerpt of the premiere of “Comet Tails (Which Way?)”; it will hopefully soothe you during the holiday meltdown.
