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.
:)
Labels: Andrew Gekoskie, Arturo Rodriguez, Carl J. Bianchi, Dusk, John Kilkenny, Langley High School Wind Ensemble, Stan Schoonover, Steven with a V, WIBC
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!
Labels: Dusk, New York All State, WIBC