Short Ride in a Grand Pianola

Last night's concert by the Jerry Junkin and the UT Wind Ensemble was intense. This was the final concert of John Adams' residency at UT, and the group opened with his Short Ride in a Fast Machine (which I know well, but had never heard live), and followed up with his Grand Pianola music, both of which were really, really good. Junkin maintained an unbelievably intense pace and conducting style throughout, and the ensemble was obviously on top of their game - both works are quite difficult, but they pulled it off with ease. And that was just the first half. At intermission, they added one or two chairs for: the UT choir (big), a children's choir from Hill Country Middle School, and three soloists, in addition to the enter wind ensemble for Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. This is a transcription of the entire work for band - I believe it's fairly new, but not sure. From the very first O Fortuna it exuded epic-ness (epicity? epicality?), and didn't let up for a full hour. Just to top it all off, Junkin conducted the entire work from memory. Because really, why not?

It was spectacular, and special shout-out to V and Franklin Gross for their piano artistry in the concert!

Fun side-note: V and I were John Adams' taxi back to his hotel in the afternoon, and can report that he's an extremely down-to-earth and friendly man. I neglected to make any jokes about it being a "short ride in an old machine" (namely, my 12 year old Saturn). Probably for the best.

Labels: Carmina Burana, Grand Pianola, Jerry Junkin, John Adams, Short Ride in a Fast Machine, UT Wind Ensemble

Back from Baylor

Bob Reynolds and the Baylor Wind Ensemble gave a really fine performance of the piece last night. There were a few odd moments in the opening of the piece (there usually are - the vast silent spaces and exposed single notes seem to make the players nervous, unfortunately), and the elderly audience member's mechanized breathing machine added an interesting element to the work (it wasn't really that bad - just had to mention it for the David Lynch quality it adds to the narrative).

Regardless, the energy and presence of the group was deeply satisfying, and Maestro Reynolds did a masterful job of unleashing the full ensemble throughout the tutti section of the work. It was great to hear him do the work live, and I wish I could be at the Carnegie and Tanglewood performances! Big thanks to the group and to their director, Eric Wilson, and congratulations to them on their selection to play at CBDNA next year in Austin - I look forward to hearing you all next March!

Now, I'm procrastinating on the windtronica piece until the UT New Music Ensemble concert tonight with John Adams... (at least I've managed to resist firing up MarioKart Wii!!).

Labels: Baylor Wind Ensemble, Bob Reynolds, CBDNA, Eric Wilson, John Adams, MarioKart, Wii

Bloom yesterday, Alchemy tonight

Verena and the UT Symphony Band gave a truly stellar performance of Bloom yesterday. In fact, the entire concert was superb - Damon Talley, the director of that group, has done a fantastic job with them this year.

Tonight, V and I head up to Baylor to hear Bob Reynolds guest conduct Alchemy in Silent Spaces: I the logic of all my dreams.. He's already done it with USC, and has it programmed for the National Collegiate Wind Ensemble concert in Carnegie on May 25th, and then again at Tanglewood this summer. I get the impression he's taken a liking to that movement of the work. :)

Also, John Adams is here in residence this week, with concerts of his music by the orchestra, new music ensemble, and the wind ensemble on three consecutive nights. I don't know exactly what I'll say to him besides the usual slobbering nerdy fan standby "I love your music!"

And lastly, the winds+electronics piece is slowing moving forward - the first movement is more than half finished. Perhaps considerably more - can't quite tell yet. The first minute or so is essentially a celesta and vibraphone duet. Very bright and shiny, as Newman would say.

Labels: Alchemy, Bloom, Bob Reynolds, John Adams, logic of all my dreams, Verena, WIndtronica

Earthquake in Indiana

I arrived in Fort Wayne, IN yesterday for my residency at IUPFW (late, courtesy of American Airlines), and was welcomed early this morning by an earthquake. I've been to LA several times, San Francisco, Seattle, even Japan, but have never felt an earthquake until I come to Indiana. It was a bizarre, gentle, rocking - of EVERYTHING. I woke up enough to just watch in amazement as the bed swayed, and wondered if I should go stand in the doorway. I went back to sleep instead.

I guess this means my weekend here is going to ROCK! ;)

Labels: earthquake, Fort Wayne

CD releases - Naxos and Albany Records

Just got word that two CDs will be released shortly:

American Tapestry (Naxos). This is the debut release of the Lone Star Wind Orchestra under the direction of Eugene Corporon, performing my work Radiant Joy. Release date April 29th, 2008.

New Music from Bowling Green, Vol. 5 (Albany Records), featuring the Bowling Green Philharmonia, Emily Freeman Brown, conductor. World premiere recording of my orchestra work, Loose Id for Orchestra. Release date: May 1st, 2008.

Pick them up if you have the inclination!

Labels: Albany Records, Bowling Green, CD, Emily Freeman Brown, Eugene Corporon, Lone Star Wind Orchestra, Loose Id, Naxos, Radiant Joy

Arkansas Composers Forum

Last night was the Arkansas Composers Forum concert featuring works by Charles Booker, Reber Clark, Philip Parker, Francis McBeth, and myself. Hal Cooper, director of bands at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville was our host. The band did a great job on all the works, and I was particularly happy with their performance of my First Light. This was only its second performance, and the first time for me to hear the new ending, which I was extremely pleased with.

Each of the composers conducted his own work, so a big "thank you" to the band for putting up with a different composer for each work, and for tolerating a gaggle of composers to begin with! It was great to meet you all!

I was negligent in getting many pictures, but my mother managed to get one of all of us immediately after the concert:


(L-R: Reber Clark, Francis McBeth, Phil Parker, Steven Bryant, Charles Booker, Hal Cooper)

Big thank you to Hal for putting this together, and here's to hoping for a 2nd Annual Arkansas Composers Forum! ;)

Labels: Arkansas Composers Forum, Arkansas Tech, Charles Booker, First Light, McBeth, Philip Parker, Reber Clark

Dusk for Symphony Orchestra

I transcribed Dusk for symphony orchestra last weekend, and had the good fortune (thanks to the efforts of Donald Grantham) to have the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra read it yesterday. They did a fantastic job, and I'm happy to announce you can hear it on this page, or at MySpace (same recording in both places). The piece will be distributed by Hal Leonard (but still published by me), exactly the same as the band version, and will be available late this summer. I have a few corrections and revisions to make to the score, and then will post a perusal version on the site sometime in the near future.

Yesterday was a busy day: last night, Jonathan Newman invaded San Marcos, Texas last night, where he was the 2008 guest artist with Rod Schueller, Caroline Beatty, and the Texas State University bands. They did three of his pieces, and WildKoba and I headed down that way to catch the show. I'm sure details will be forthcoming on Jonathan's Notebook in the near future.

Labels: Dusk, Jonathan Newman, Symphony Orchestra, Texas State University, WildKoba

Windtronica dreams

Last night I dreamt I heard the new piece I'm writing in its entirety in concert. Except that I was outside the hall. And the piece wasn't finished, so I'd stuck in a transcription of some of Pink Floyd's The Wall in the middle to fill up the unfinished, empty space. Amazingly, no one noticed, though I don't think I can get away with that in real life. Unfortunately, all I can remember from the dream are the Floyd bits. I guess I'll have to keep working on this piece the old-fashioned way. I actually made progress on the first movement tonight. I'm writing for Celesta for the first time, which is a fantastic instrument. In fact, in the piece's current incarnation, it's the only live instrument in the first minute of the piece...

Labels: Celesta, Pink Floyd, WIndtronica