Dusk at Disney Hall

Apparently Westlake HS is playing Dusk sometime around now at Disney Hall tonight. I had no idea, but ... COOL. Props to John Mackey for the heads-up.

Much more catching up to do : New York was great. MAYWE played their hearts out in Carnegie, and it was great to work with them and their fearless leaders, Robert Ambrose and Laura Moates Stanley. I sincerely hope I can come down to Atlanta and work with all of you again!



The rest of the trip consisted of seeing old friends, including finally meeting the dangerously charming and brilliant Newman/Schlactmeyer offspring, popping in on the Bang on a Can marathon with Jonathan, and checking out all the changes at Juilliard. I took some pictures, but wasn't able to capture it in a satisfying way, so just look at John's pix from his visit a few weeks ago.

I'm flying mostly under the radar while I compose this new piece for the Nebraska consortium. It's not due until August, but I need to finish it by the end of the month. On July 3rd, I head down to Denton to rehearse Ecstatic Waters with the UNT Wind Ensemble before we all pile in the bus and take the show to WASBE in Cincinnati. Concert is Thursday night, July 9th - I have no doubt it will bring the house down!

After that, it's straight from Cincinnati to Austria (well, not really straight - have to go through Atlanta, Munich, and then cab&train to Schladming) for the MidEurope Festival. The word is that Gary Green's doing Radiant Joy with the WYWOP, and Verena finally makes her conducting debut with the group, after running the entire show behind-the-scenes for the past several years!

And then it's to Durham, NC in August! Verena is the new director of bands at Duke University, which kicks total ass. So proud of this girl - came to the US and did both MM and DMA in a total of 4 years, and not even in her native language. That's just one of the many reasons I asked her to marry me. :)

Return to New York

I head back to NYC tomorrow morning for the first time in three years - eager to see the place, especially the transformation of Juilliard. I'll be in town for the Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Wind Ensemble's performance of Dusk under Robert Ambrose, who will also be performing some Newman on the same concert. Oh, it's at Carnegie Hall - forgot to mention that - always nice to have a performance in a decent space...

Anyhoo, I'm excited to get back up there, even for just a brief visit. Perhaps I'll even manage a photo or two of the place.

Festival of Winds Concert, Conway, Arkansas

I'm heading to Arkansas this weekend for the Festival of Winds Honor Band and concert on Saturday night (May 2nd). This is a joint concert between the honor band and the Little Rock Wind Symphony, both of whom will be performing my music (with me conducting!). In addition, I'm conducting Eric Whitacre's Sleep with the honor band - my first time to conduct someone else's music! The festival is organized by Karen Fannin, director of bands at Hendrix College, and the conductor of the LRWS. Showtime is 7:30pm, Saturday night, at Staples Auditorium on the Hendrix campus in Conway, AR. Come out if you're around!

Ecstatic in Illinois

I'm back in Austin tonight, after boarding a flight in the snow in Chicago, and walking off the plane into 86 degree heat 2 and half hours later. Good to be home... :)

Last night, the [wind ensemble of the] Fighting Saints of St. Charles East HS gave a very successful performance of Ecstatic Waters, after a FULL first half consisting of Newman's Avenue X, my own Dusk, Joseph Spaniola's Escapade, and Wataru Hokoyama's Fanfare. Oh, and they also played RB Hall's march, Independentia to close the concert...because Director Jim Kull is crazy - uh - ambitious with his programming. ;) I think he's addicted to stress, because Ecstatic Waters alone is a big production to perform! Many thanks are due to John Mizanin for making the sound setup flawless, Gil Wukitsch for keeping me from getting lost in the score, Jim Kull for taking on this project to begin with, and the band for working so hard and rising to the challenge of this music. You all did a wonderful job, and I had a great time! I hope all y'all stay warm up there! :)

Now, gotta practice Radiant Joy - I'm conducting it with the Greater Dallas Youth Wind Symphony at the Eisemann Center in Richardson, TX, on Sunday!

Texas State has Suite Dreams

The Texas State University Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Winds concert was last night, and both groups did a fantastic job. I let the professionals handle the conducting, except for the last of my pieces, Suite Dreams, for which I just couldn't resist taking the podium. The group played really, really well, and I think it all went over well with the audience, as well. :)

Now it's off to Ohio State University tomorrow for rehearsals with Rock Blatti and the Symphonic Band on Ecstatic Waters, which they're performing Wednesday night. However, I have to leave from there on Wed. morning for St. Charles East High School (Chicago suburb), where Jim Kull and the Wind Ensemble are ALSO doing Ecstatic Waters, so I can perform it with them on Thursday night. If you're in either of those towns, you should go to one of the concerts - won't be quite like any band concert you've ever been to before!

Texas State University residency this week

I'm pleased to serve as the 2009 Texas State University Dept. of Bands Visiting Artist this week. I'm heading down to San Marcos for rehearsals with the Wind Ensemble and the Symphonic Winds (Rod Schueller and Caroline Beatty, directors) today, and then will return for a full day of seminars, rehearsals, etc. on Thursday, and then Friday evening for the concert, featuring Radiant Joy, Suite Dreams, Dusk, and MetaMarch. Concert is Friday night at 8pm, in Evans Auditorium on the campus of Texas State University.

And as a TMEA recap - Baylor did a great job with Alchemy in Silent Spaces, Mvt. I, the logic of all my dreams last week! It was a pleasure to hear them play, and I had a great time as always in San Antonio!

Off to San Marcos...

Duluth Days 2 & 3

(posting from a fogged-in Duluth airport, where I await a bus to Minneapolis since my 7am flight (and all flights) in and out of Duluth are not happening...)

The remainder of the weekend here in Duluth was great. Saturday (Day 2) the two High School Honor bands rehearsed in the morning, and we gave the concerts in the afternoon. At the 1pm dress, Rich Mowers (director of the Maroon Band) and I decided I'd conduct Interruption Overture with his group, so went through it a couple of times with them. More for me than for them - I hadn't looked at the score in a couple of years, so was interesting to remember on the fly. It went great as well as Dusk and MetaMarch with the Gold band. It was quite a new experience for me to take band from first rehearsal all the way through the concert, and in a way, it was the most comfortable conducting gig I've ever had. By the time we reached the concert, I knew the band well, and knew where to anticipate problems in performance and how better to fix them on the fly. So, a great experience for me, and they all seemed to enjoy it too!

Day 3: Met the UMD Concert Band for rehearsal at 1pm to go over Dusk and MetaMarch, and then we gave a combined concert with the Symphonic Band doing Suite Dreams again. The Concert Band is big - 80-100 people I believe, so the music was LOUD. They adjusted well (my tempi in Dusk are slow and very fluid, which threw them a little at first, but they adapted quickly), and gave a really nice performance of it, and of course MetaMarch, which is just good fun. The final performance of the weekend was Suite Dreams with the Symphonic Band, and I think this was one of the best conducting and musical experiences I've had. I went well on Friday night, but Sunday felt truly extraordinary. They played fantastically well, and this particular hall (Weber Hall) seems perfectly suited for the piece. It's rather reverberant, but not excessively so, and it can be quite loud and full sounding, which was PERFECT for the big tutti section of Suite Dreams. I can't wait to get the recording and find out how subjective my memory is, but it felt like a truly great performance. They did a bang-up job on the whole concert, too - they closed with Mackey's RedLine Tango, which sounded great from backstage (though I was on the other side of the wall from the Piano and percussion, so it sounded like a Piano and Marimba concerto sometimes). The director of bands, Mark Whitlock, sent me out for an additional bow after the whole concert, which meant I came out while they're still applauding for Mackey's piece. Kinda felt like I took a bow for RedLine Tango. Which I didn't mind. ;)

So, a fantastic weekend, conducting 6 of my works with 5 bands in 3 days. This is definitely a record. And I'm happy to let it stay as such - that's a lot of work!

Now, if I could just get home...

Madison, WI and Duluth, MN

This afternoon I'll be on my way to WMEA in Madison, WI, where the Univ. MN Duluth Wind Ensemble under Mark Whitlock will perform Suite Dreams on Thursday morning at 11:30. Immediately after that, I hop on the bus with the UMD band and we drive six hours up to Duluth, where I'll spend Thurs. night through Monday morning in residence at the Twin Ports WInd Festival. I'll be conducting something like five of my pieces with five different bands in three concerts over three days.

I should look at my scores...

Marktoberdorf, Germany

I'm now in Marktoberdorf, Germany, giving a week-long composition masterclass as part of the Bavarian Summer Music Academy. This is in conjunction with a wind band component, which is currently rehearsing four of my works (Suite Dreams, Dusk, Stampede, and MetaMarch) for their concert Saturday night. They're all in sectionals at the moment, so I can hear the clarinets rehearsing Suite Dreams juxtaposed against trumpets working on Stampede. Ivesian ... and very cool.

Had a great vacation last week in Malcesine in northern Italy - this is the same place we went last year, and is the location for the sunrise that inspired First Light. This year, I managed to get a cool photo of a night-time storm from the terrace:

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.

91 F

It's 91 degrees here at the moment. In February. I'm trying to avoid turning on the air conditioner, because that seems so decadent and un-Earth-friendly in the middle of WINTER. I'm loving this sunny warm winter, but sure am glad I won't be around for the summer...

Random miscellaneous:

Dusk scores are sold out at Hal Leonard for the moment, but Shattinger Music has some in stock if you need them. A brand new printing of both scores and sets is coming soon, with some minor revisions (mostly changes that I end up making when conducting it, so now they'll finally be codified). The new score and set also includes an optional Harp part, which I'll post for download on the Dusk page.

Also, I'm working on Dusk for symphony orchestra - I think it will make a great youth orchestra work. Amazing how the strings solve a lot of the sustain/breathing issues from the wind version. I have about a third of it finished. Have two possible performances lined up in the Fall - in two countries! More on that later in the year as plans are confirmed.

Residencies:
Arkansas Composers at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville. They'll be performing "First Light," and I'll finally get to do my first 'gig' with my old teacher, Francis McBeth! The forum and concert are on April 1st (not a joke!). Don't get to do many gigs in my home state of Arkansas, so this is a welcome event!

Going to Fort Wayne, IN on April 20th for a guest residency with Jim Colonna's group at Indiana University Purdue University -Fort Wayne (cumbersome enough name for you?). They'll be playing Radiant Joy.



The neighbors' puppy, Flower, on a little hike with us this weekend:



She's a cutie.

Back to procrastinating on the winds and electronics piece. I have a five-movement architecture laid out, but I can draw Corigliano-sketch-pictures all day long. Making the leap from there to actual notes is the chasm no one can teach you to jump across.

Mackey Sax, TMEA catch-up

As promised, a few pics from Mackey's visit and TMEA:

John Mackey, Harvey Pittel, and AEJ, immediately after the fantastic UT concert with Mackey's Sax Concerto. Read more about it here. This man's circular breathing is indeed spectacular - I never could master that back in my saxamaphone-playin' days. And of course the ensemble was excellent as usual - they also played a well-done new "West Side Story" arrangement with particular 'verve.'




V and I headed to TMEA for a couple of days - now that it's just down the road, how could we not go? We spent some quality time with EW for the first time in far too long. He gave a clinic on his choral music with the Texas Tech Choir that was rather well-attended:



The choir was great, and ready for anything - Eric threw some new music at them just before the clinic, and they gobbled it up easily. I'm so inspired by hearing them that I've gone and dug up my one and only choral work from circa 1994. As I feared, it needs some serious work before it sees the light of day (even then, still not sure it's worthy of being heard in public). Hearing them did remind me how much I love choral sound.

As usual, E was besieged by fans asking him to sign anything and everything. Including the fans themselves:



At one point the crowd was bordering on the dangerous - almost crushing E and his manager, KC, against the wall. I'm sure that's a normal amount of attention for choral composers, though...

Unfortunately, we had to head home on Friday, and missed Mackey's numerous concerts, but we did make it to a rehearsal of the 5A Symphonic Band with Tom Lee. Holy hell - I'm jealous of all those high C's in the horns. They did indeed sound awesome. This piece was for the JWECC consortium in Japan, which Newman's doing this year, and I'll be composing a work for them next year. They ate up the high C's with no problem, so I figure I'll write some high D's. Why not, right? It's just a whole step... (For the sarcasm impaired, I'm not serious - rabid horn teachers need not write in indignation).


Since I woke up at 3am this morning and couldn't sleep anymore, I figure I'll go and transcribe Dusk for orchestra. Enjoy your day, wherever you are!

It's Steven with a "V"

Back in November, I was at the Western International Band Clinic in Seattle with the fine Langley High School wind ensemble, and their director, Andrew Gekoskie. This is the group that commissioned and premered "Dusk" a few years ago, and they gave another fine performance of it at the conference. I never got around to posting pictures from the event because this is also where I dropped my laptop and was more or less offline for 3 weeks. So, a little late, but here's a nice tidbit from the conference:

Fellow Juilliard alum John Kilkenny, who performed a movement from Michael Daugherty's UFO percussion concerto on the same concert at WIBC, was recognized by Vic Firth for his performance, and they even have a photo up. Check it out!.

There's even a composer named Stephen Bryant in there. I don't know who this guy is, but he keeps showing up in my place.

It's Steven with a "V." Always has been, always will be. I know, it's a small thing in this world of war, hunger, crashing stock markets (today should be a real doozy), etc., but really, it's simple. Please? SteVen. It even saves you a letter. It's economical, efficient, and just plain the Right Thing To Do.

:)

Bowie HS performs" Dusk"

Last night, I had the privilege to conduct the Bowie HS WInd Ensemble on my piece, "Dusk." They performed beautifully, especially considering the fact that we only had two rehearsals! It was wonderful to hear their entire concert - they play startlingly well, and I am honored that their director, Bruce Dinkins, invited me to be a part of their final concert of the Fall!

The horn section in particular rocked - solid, balanced, gutsy sound throughout the section:



I wish I'd gotten a picture of the whole band, but didn't manage to. So, imagine a great group of truly stellar high school musicians smiling at you!

Thanks again to Bruce and the staff at Bowie High School, and of course the band - I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, and perhaps we can work together again soon? ;)

Conducting Dusk at Bowie HS this Friday!

Bruce Dinkins, director of bands at Bowie HS in Austin, has graciously invited me to conduct Dusk with his Wind Ensemble this Friday night, December 14th. I met the band last Thursday and we sight-read through the piece, and I have to say I was blown away. This band is good - they were making music from my first downbeat. I'll go over the piece again with them this Thursday morning, and that's it - who ever heard of a High School group putting a piece together in two rehearsals?

If you're in Austin, come down to Bowie High School Friday night. Concert starts at 7, I believe, and the wind ensemble is last on the program (there are other bands before them).

In other news, I finally have my laptop back, so I'll try to get some pictures up from my recent adventures in Seattle and Rochester. Right now, I must print up a box-load of Radiant Joy scores and sets for Shattinger Music - sounds like he's going all-out for Midwest this year...

Austin, Texas

We returned from Europe one evening last week, packed our stuff, slept 4 hours, and at 5am began our 8-hour drive from Little Rock to Austin. Ugh.

Nice to be here, though. I've been setting up the apartment, assembling IKEA furniture, and fielding a nice influx of interest in some pieces. It appears H. Robert Reynolds and the USC Thornton Wind Ensemble will perform the first movement of Alchemy in Silent Spaces, the logic of all my dreams, on October 21st. Also, I'll be heading to Seattle in November for the Western International Band Clinic, where Andrew Gekoskie and the Langley HS Wind Symphony will do Dusk (which they commissioned and premiered back in 2004). Never been to the Pacific Northwest and have always wanted to go, so looking forward to that! Two weeks later, I head to Rochester, NY, for the New York All-State, where they'll premiere a new work I'm currently writing for them.

Speaking of the NY All-State Symphonic Band, let me tell you about this group. It's HUGE. 153 players. 30 Bb Clarinets. 6 Bass Clarinets. 16 Horns (ok,that makes me drool with anticipation). And guess how many Oboes they have? You'll need more than one hand. Not sure if that makes me drool or cower in fear (I kid, I kid!). Actually, this piece has been intimidating me for awhile - it presents quite the compositional dilemma. How do I create something that really takes advantage of all those players, but not make it impossible to program for anyone else? One idea I had was to divide the group into 2 - a "wind ensemble" of 1 on a part, and the remainder, which would still comprise a large symphonic band. Here's the kicker - I wanted to put the entire "wind ensemble" out in the audience, or, well, around the audience. So it'd be a piece for symphonic band and antiphonal...band. Now I'm really drooling at that thought. With that I might could even rival that "it's-so-loud-I-had-to-laugh" moment in Corigliano's Circus Maximus.

Unfortunately, the powers that be said the Eastman Theater won't have room for any such shenanigans. Bummer.

Ok, I should be working on the piece right now, in fact, instead of doing this, so...bis spaeter!