Steven Bryant

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noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:17:00 +0000

The blog takes a back seat...

Since I'm not particularly consistent at actual blogging, and in recent times posts have dwindled to simple "here's what I'm up to" (and not even that, in the last two months I've had two premieres and nary a word here!!), I've restructured the front page of my site to pull together my Twitter feed, upcoming performances, and a random photo from my Flickr page, and relegated the actual Blog to a secondary page.

And just to officially catch up:

Oklahoma State was great - the horns made me giggle with joy, and the performance was spectacular. Huge thanks to unsung hero Hunter Lewis for slogging through the unfamiliar world of Ableton Live, Joe Missal for being a great host, and of course the band, who just about blew the doors off of the hall. Which is exactly what I want. :)

Univ. Nebraska Lincoln - went straight from Stillwater to Lincoln, where Carolyn Barber and the UNL Wind Ensemble premiered The Marbled Midnight Mile at NMEA. This was a consortium commission organized by Phi Beta Mu and administered by Jay Gilbert at Doane College, consisting of somewhere around 30 schools from across Nebraska, ranging from very small High Schools all the way up to some college groups (including UNL). As I've mentioned before, composing works for younger, less-experienced musicians, is in itself a daunting challenge, and doing so while still trying to keep it challenging for college-level performers makes it all the more difficult. I think it worked, though! It certainly was well-received, and I was struck by how meditative the music was - even moreso than I had expected. More on the piece coming soon. A big "thank you" to Carolyn and the UNL group for the lovely performance, and to Jay Gilbert, Phi Beta Mu, and the participating commissioners for making the project happen!

UNC Greensboro - it's always wonderful to go to a performance and NOT have to get on an airplane. After this Fall's crazy schedule, I appreciate it even more. So it was a delight to drive the hour over to Greensboro for John Locke and the UNCG Wind Ensemble's performance of Ecstatic Waters. The group was fantastic, and also rocked out on some Chester Leaps In and Radiant Joy. It was sort of a career-spanning concert: Chester Leaps In is my oldest piece (that I'll let anyone hear), dating from 1995 (the band version was created in 1997 at the urging of Eric Whitacre).

Williams College - this was a very cool, completely atypical concert. Steve Bodner has a unique program up there, and I must say, I really liked the whole program and his approach to programming. This wasn't a "band" concert, or even a "new music" concert - it was simply a great, creative evening of music (how often will I be programmed with Andriessen, Adams, Lang, van der Aa, and Debussy all in one?!?), in a cool space (Mass MoCa). The brand new Ecstatic Moments I created for the event worked wonderfully, and I plan to release them for others to use shortly. Williamstown is also a beautiful town in one of my favorite areas of the country, so I hope I get a chance to return there... :)

Michigan State - it's always great to visit old friends, and working with Kevin Sedatole and the MSU Wind Symphony was a fitting finish to the semester's travel schedule. The performance was, as always, truly excellent, and the Mahler Hammer was ridiculous. This must be the biggest Mahler Hammer ever created. I only managed to get a shot with my iPhone, but I hear there's actual video out there of this in action...

Anyone from MSU want to hook me up?

That wraps up the Fall series of performances. The Spring looks to be even crazier - 26 scheduled performances of Ecstatic Waters so far, including the US Marine Band...

Cedar Ridge HS Bands tonight!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:17:00 +0000

The Cedar Ridge HS Wind Symphony and Symphony Bands are playing my MetaMarch and Radiant Joy tonight, in Hillsborough, NC. I'll be working with both bands in rehearsal today, and at the concert tonight. Triangle people, come on out!

From Michigan to Miami

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:23:00 +0000

Catching up...

Had a great trip to Michigan for the Univ. Michigan Symphony Band's performance of Ecstatic Waters. Hill Auditorium makes the electronics crystal clear - it was easy (to my ears) to pick out the acoustic vs. the electronics elements, which made the blending more difficult than usual. The band did a great job, made all the more astonishing by conductor Michael Haithcock doing the entire piece without a click track! Not intentionally, of course - for some reason the wireless unit didn't work in performance (could've been as simple as the earpiece not being plugged in all the way - we have no idea what really went wrong), but he got to Mvt. II where the first electronics cue comes, in, and he had no click. Despite this, he held the piece together by simply relying on listening to the speakers. Lesson for everyone else doing the piece - make sure you check that your click track works immediately before the piece begins.

Also gave an in-depth talk about the piece during a seminar at Michigan - 2 hours solid of me talking about this one piece of music. It felt incredibly self-indulgent, but no one fell asleep, so that's a good sign. A little nerve-wracking that Bob Reynolds was there and asking questions (and in fact we may have worked out a persistent orchestrational problem I've had in Mvt. IV!).

After the performance, Verena and I spent the weekend in East Lansing, and got to go to the MSU/Michigan game on Saturday, followed by Kevin Sedatole's post-game party at his house (featuring Salt Lick BBQ shipped up from Austin for this occasion). Great weekend seeing old friends and revisiting V's old stomping grounds for the first time since we left over two years ago.

After a brief return home, I'm now in Miami, where Gary Green and the Univ. of Miami Wind Symphony will perform Ecstatic Waters on Wednesday night. We had a rehearsal yesterday, and everything worked great (including the click track!). This is my first time in Miami, and of course we had some excellent Cuban cuisine today at Versailles, and some unbelievably good seafood last night on the water at The Chart House (the Apple Jack Seabass...hooboy was that some good eats). So, things are good here. If you're in Miami, come to the concert Wednesday night on the Univ. Miami campus - the concert also features the premiere of Gary's transcription of Frank Ticheli's Symphony No. 1, with tenor John Bragle singing the final movement - should prove to be a great concert!

Must sleep - have to talk to the conducting students here in the morning...

Duke Univ. Wind Symphony concert TONIGHT

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:15:00 +0000

If you're in The Triangle (that'd be Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill for you non-locals), you should check out the Duke University Wind Symphony's first concert of the year tonight at 8pm in Baldwin Auditorium (East Campus). Verena has done a fantastic job with the group, and when I heard the dress rehearsal on Tues. night, it was evident they've worked really hard on this concert. Verena is an extraordinarily musical conductor, and the concert will be worth your time.

The program includes Susato's Danserye, Grantham's Southern Harmony, Vaughan WIlliams English Folk Song Suite, Hindemith's March from Symphonic Metamorphosis, and more!

In Ann Arbor

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:36:00 +0000

Arrived in Ann Arbor, MI today for the Univ. Michigan's upcoming performance of Ecstatic Waters. Tomorrow I give a seminar, then we do the dress rehearsal in the evening. The group will sound fantastic - can't wait to hear them in Hill Auditorium: Friday night (8pm; pre-concert lecture at 7:15).

Saturday, we're off to the Mich./MSU game. And lest a week go by without BBQ, I hear Kevin Sedatole is having Salt Lick shipped up fresh from Austin for the post-game party on Saturday. I think that's what the kids these days call an "Epic Win."

UMKC wrap-up

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:40:00 +0000

Some observations from last week at UMKC:

1) The band is HOT. The 7 horns in the back row sounded like they were in my lap...and I liked it. It was a fantastic performance, and I can't thank conductor Steve Davis, and his TAs Hayes Bunch and Michelle Van Unen enough for inviting me out and making the whole thing run so well.

2) The BBQ ribs at Oklahoma Joe's are a taste treat, and the Crown Prime Beef Rib at Jack Stack is utterly unbelievable. Only matched by the Hickory Pit Beans, which apparently are Bobby Flay's favorite. I could taste why. Forgive the blurry iPhone pic:

3) Steve Davis treats you right: I had a full-size Jacuzzi in my room. Not some sort of glorified bathtub, this was a completely separate, fully-mirrored affair. Ridiculous... and extremely relaxing (after wading through the extensive instructions):

I had a great time in Kansas City, and can't thank the band enough for playing so well. This was my first visit, but I certainly hope it's not my last. :)

Now on to University of Michigan for the Symphony Band's performance of Ecstatic Waters on Friday night. I expect they will also not be too shabby... :)

The Fall Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:33:00 +0000

Lots of performances coming up, and I'm happy to say I'll be at a number of them. The madness begins this coming Tuesday, as I make my very first trip to Kansas City (eager for BBQ - I've been to Memphis many times, lived in Austin, now live in NC, so KC is the last of the big 4 BBQ holy lands I have yet to visit). Here's a rundown of my travels this Fall:

Sept. 22-25: UMKC Wind Symphony (Ecstatic Waters concert 9/24)
Sept. 30-Oct. 5: Univ. Michigan Symphony Band (Ecstatic Waters concert 10/2)
Oct. 11-15: Univ. Miami Wind Ensemble (Ecstatic Waters concert 10/14)
Oct 27: Cedar Ridge HS (NC) Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band concert (Radiant Joy and MetaMarch)
Nov. 15-17: Oklahoma State University Wind Ensemble (Ecstatic Waters concert 11/17)
Nov. 18-20: Univ. Nebraska - Lincoln / NMEA residency - WORLD PREMIERE of The Marbled Midnight Mile (concert 11/20)
Nov. 20-Dec. 1: UNC Greensboro Wind Ensemble (Ecstatic Waters concert 12/1)
Dec. 2-5: Williams College WInd Ensemble (Ecstatic Waters concert 12/4)
Dec. 5-7: Michigan State Univ. Wind Symphony (Ecstatic Waters concert 12/6)
Dec. 14-19: Midwest Clinic, Chicago, IL

So, those are the ones I'll actually be in attendance. A fuller (though not complete) list of upcoming concerts is here.

What makes this extra fun is flying with all my laptop and audio gear. Airport security loves to see me with my backpack full of cryptic (to them) audio interfaces and cables. Explaining that the big MOTU letters stand for "Mark of the Unicorn" doesn't really clarify the situation any, either.

Durham, NC - The Triangle

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:32:00 +0000

Verena and I are now happy residents of Durham, NC. We've finally gotten unpacked and are moved in - no more climbing around boxes and eating at the kitchen bar. She's in full swing with the Duke University Wind Symphony, preparing for their first concert on October 1st, and I'm preparing for an academic year full of Ecstatic Waters performances (somewhere above the 25 mark at the moment, I believe!), and about to begin work on three projects - first, chamber variations on Ecstatic Waters for Steven Bodner and the Williams College Symphonic Winds, set for premiere December 4th; second, my cello concerto (for orchestral winds and percussion) for Caroline Stinson, cellist with the Lark Quartet; and third, a brand new consortium, led by Jerry Junkin, to complete my Concerto for Wind Ensemble. The existing work from 2007 will be the first movement of this larger work.

This weekend it's off to hear the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (Friday) and the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra (Sunday). The former will be led by Larry Rachleff, whom I'm eager to finally meet, and the latter features Terrence Wilson on piano, who was at Juilliard when I was there, and is a phenomenal pianist (I still remember him doing the solo piano version of Petrushka as a student and being utterly blown away).

Perhaps I'll record some Saxophone How-to's this weekend as well. It appears my lack of practicing for the last 15 years won't put me at much of a disadvantage... (someone please tell me that this is satire...please)

johncorigliano.com

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:13:00 +0000

I've long had links to my teachers' sites on my links page, but until now, John Corigliano's was simply a link to the Schirmer site. That's finally been rectified: www.johncorigliano.com is up!

BTW, the opening splash music is a fragment from his Altered States soundtrack. This might still be my favorite of all his creations, and the concert suite, Three Hallucinations, is my orchestration bible.

Photos: WYWOP/Mid Europe 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:20:00 +0000

WYWOP 2009 / Mid Europe 2009 photos

WYWOP 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:40:00 +0000

Had yet another great week in Schladming, Austria, at Mid Europe 2009. The World Youth Wind Orchestra Project, or WYWOP, gave a great concert this past Saturday night to close the festival. The concert was shared among four conductors: Gary Green from the Univ. of Miami, Joseph Horovitz from Great Britain, Johann Moesenbichler, president of Mid Europe, and for the first time, Verena Moesenbichler, Executive Director of the WYWOP and Director of Bands at Duke University (and my soon to be wife!). Gary did several tunes, including a new piece by Austin-based composer Ryan George, which is a really solid, fun piece, and I expect it will get a lot of performances. Ryan and his wife Sara(h?) came out to Austria just for this performance, and turned out to be truly delightful people to hang out with.

Gary also did my Radiant Joy with the group, which was a little scary in rehearsals, but all-but-flawless in performance (special shout-out to John Di Egidio and Nicola Martini for the Sop. and Bari. sax solos, and the percussion section for laying down a completely solid groove the entire time). Green closed the concert with the second movement of Mackey's Kingfishers Catch Fire, which, as always, brought the house down. This year's band had a particularly strong and large trumpet section, which was a perfect fit for John's piece.

Verena did a masterful job with the piece she was tasked with conducting (which was itself NOT a masterfully transcribed work from the original brass band version, but that's another story). The sheer energy and presence she has on the podium is breathtaking. I can't wait to hear her conduct Alchemy in Silent Spaces someday. :)

Now we're spending the remainder of our time in Austria, where she's preparing for her first year as Director of Bands at Duke University, and I'm finishing the new piece for the Nebraska consortium. I had finished it before I left for WASBE a few weeks ago, but have decided it needs a better climax section and ending, so I'm back to being unfinished. Then we fly back to the US, where we load up all of our stuff in a big truck, and drive 14 hours to our new home in Durham, NC!

WASBE to MidEurope

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:28:00 +0000

UNT's performance of Ecstatic Waters at WASBE was a big success. This is the first time I've heard it in performance without running the electronics (did some rehearsals at OSU where I got to listen, but not the performance), and WOW is it exhausting to listen to - in a good way. The group played wonderfully (as always), and I had a great time really hanging out with everyone over the past week - nothing like a 19-hour bus ride to encourage bonding. Thanks to Eugene Corporon for programming it, and to Bob Schwartz and David Robinson for running the electronics, and last but most of all, to Shannon and Jen Kitelinger for going above and beyond in taking care of, and entertaining, me during the entire week, as well as basically running the whole show behind the scenes.

So, WASBE was a lot of fun, and I believe I managed not to sound stupid on either composer panel I was on, so I consider the whole adventure a great success! I even managed to end up riding a mechanical bull at the Cadillac Ranch in Cincinnati after the concert. And yes, there are pictures. No, they're not going to show up here.

Saturday morning I took off for Austria, which involved planes, trains, and automobiles, and now am happily enjoying the cool mountain air of Schladming. The Mid-Europe festival starts this week, and the WYWOP (World Youth Wind Orchestra Project - which defines youth as ages 15-30) will be playing Radiant Joy as part of their concert on Saturday night. Also on the program is John Mackey's Kingfishers Catch Fire, Mvt. II, which I believe will close the concert (as it always should - no one in their right mind would want to follow it on a program). Both works will be conducted by Gary Green, and it should be a great week and a great concert.

Time to eat soon. I want some schnitzel.

The Big Day at WASBE

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:43:00 +0000

Been in Cincinnati the past few days doing run-out concerts with the UNT Wind Symphony (with a side adventure last night on the way back from Athens, OH, in which the bus broke down on the side of the highway - fun times!). The concerts have been great, though, and I think tonight will be extraordinary. Made a few more small changes (have removed the bassoon mics and used Bassoon 3&4 as live echos instead of a digital delay, though I don't know what I'll do for groups that don't have 4 bassoons - gotta figure that one out next week). Also some cool stuff with the trumpets (Rob Murray is playing lead and has been very helpful with some suggestions. He also took the very end of Mvt. IV up an octave - can you say high screamin' F? - and it sounds FANTASTIC. Definitely adding that to the score...as an optional part, of course).

I'm off to a composers panel moderated by Martin Ellerby. Just found out yesterday that it's me, Gary Carpenter, and Jennifer Higdon. This is a little higher profile than I had realized...

After that, Jack Stamp and the Keystone Winds play their concert at 3:30, which includes my Radiant Joy and my friend Jim Colonna's 7, which I've never heard live. I hear the group is playing REALLY well, so very much looking forward to that. This will be followed by setup and sound check with UNT, then a quick pre-concert talk with Andy Trachsel and the composers on the UNT concert (Bruce Yurko, David Sampson, Scott McAllister, and myself) at 7pm, and the concert itself at 8pm. Full day!

WASBE - UNT plays Ecstatic Waters

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:02:00 +0000

On Friday, I head down to Denton, TX to work with Eugene Corporon and the Univ. of North Texas Wind Symphony. They're playing Ecstatic Waters next week at the WASBE conference in Cincinnati. The concert is Thursday night, July 9th, at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. In preparation, they're doing concerts on Tuesday (Miami Univ. of OH, Oxford - 7:30pm) and Wednesday (Ohio Univ. - Athens, 8pm). Looking forward to hearing the piece again! This will also serve as my last chance to make any tweaks to the parts before the concert season goes full bore next year - looking at somewhere around 15 different performances of the work in 2009-2010. I believe "W00t!!" is the appropriate exclamation. :)

Performance Today - Ecstatic Waters

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:02:00 +0000

Earlier this week, I did a short interview with Suzanne Schaffer for Performance Today. They're playing UT's performance of Ecstatic Waters on the show this morning (June 26th), and it will be posted on the website, as well. I believe it will be on Hour 2 of the show. Woohoo!!

If you're coming to this page because you heard it on the show, welcome! If you want to hear the work again, it's available on this site, as well as on Facebook.

UPDATE: Turns out it was only a short excerpt (and a very soft, compressed recording, at that). Regardless, if you want to hear the whole thing, you can on my site at the links above. I recommend an extremely quiet environment with a large stereo system, turned to 11.

Ok, back to writing this new piece (in D minor, the saddest of keys).

Dusk at Disney Hall

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:09:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Sat, 30 May 2009 03:45:00 +0000

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.

Grade 3 for Band

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:07:00 +0000

First things first: the Festival of Winds honor band students this past weekend in Conway were great, and joyfully endured an all-day grueling rehearsal schedule, followed by a great concert that night. Several of them had even stayed up the entire night before for Prom, and still performed admirably. It was quite an experience for me, too - I'd never done a full honor band, conducting (nearly) all the pieces, from beginning to end. This was also my debut conducting someone else's music - namely Eric's Sleep. I thought it all came together wonderfully at the concert that night. I also had the great pleasure of conducting Dusk with the Little Rock Wind Symphony, who were superb. Huge "thank you" to Karen Fannin, the various section leaders, and Hendrix students who organized and ran the day so smoothly. I really enjoyed myself, and it's an added pleasure to get to perform my music at "home" (now that I've traveled and lived in numerous far-flung places, 30 miles from where I grew up counts as "home").

Now that I'm back in Austin, I'm madly beating my head against a compositional brick wall trying to figure out how this next piece will sound. Composing is never effortless, but there's a special, particular challenge in writing works for small high school ensembles in that fabled "grade 3" category. The added challenge this time is that this work is being commissioned by a mixed consortium of schools (in Nebraska), ranging from some tiny high school groups through several college ensembles. Finding a solution that is 1) playable and enjoyable for the smallest, least experienced group, 2) challenging and interesting to the most advanced, college group, and 3) music that I'm still fascinated with myself, is proving to be quite a test. I have a number of ideas I'm fleshing out, but still not sure any one of them is the Right Idea. Regardless, the premiere will be on November 19th at the NMEA convention, by Carolyn Barber and the Univ. Nebraska-Lincoln Wind Ensemble.

Which is why I shouldn't be procrastinating here on the blog!

A much more productive procrastinating activity will the UT Wind Ensemble concert tonight. Composer Carter Pann is in town, playing his new piano concerto with the group tonight. We took him out for his first Trudy's experience last night, and then piled on the Amy's Ice Cream. Hopefully he now has enough calories to make it through the concert tonight...

Festival of Winds Concert, Conway, Arkansas

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:28:00 +0000

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 Waters, edited mp3

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:35:00 +0000

I've just posted an edited mp3 of UT's performance of Ecstatic Waters at CBDNA. The biggest difference is the electronics - the recording didn't capture the electronic tracks very well because of the mic placement. I've layered in the original electronics, so they're much more present and clear - this is a better representation of how it sounded in the hall. If you downloaded the original mp3, I recommend you throw it out and download this one - it sounds much better!

It's the last link in the dark green box on this page.

Ecstatic Waters CBDNA mp3

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:16:00 +0000

I've posted the entire performance from last week's CBDNA conference. It's one, 25Mb mp3 download. The link will pull the entire file to your computer, and then you can open it in iTunes, or whatever program you use to listen to mp3s. I haven't edited it at all. NOTE: Because of the mic placement to record the ensemble, they didn't pick up the electronics as loudly as they actually were in the hall. This is most noticeable in Mvt. IV, where the quirky, 'mechanized' groove kicks in - it's difficult to hear on this recording, but was more present in the live. Recording a work such as this adds a whole new dimension of complexity...

The link to download the mp3 is on the Ecstatic Waters page, along with the old link to UT's performance from last October. I also have a new perusal score up that reflects all the changes since last October.

BTW, John Mackey has a great recap of our concerts and some remarkable pictures up on his blog - though I suspect if you're reading this, you discovered his site long ago... :)

Axis Mundi mp3

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:54:00 +0000

The world premiere performance of Axis Mundi by the JWECC 2009 Festival band is now posted on the Axis Mundi page, along with a perusal PDF score. This file will download a single mp3 - it won't play in your browser. The first movement is very quiet, for a very long time - I recommend good headphones and a quiet listening environment.

Ecstatic Aftermath

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Last Friday night's performance of Ecstatic Waters by UT at CBDNA was fantastic. I haven't written anything before now because 1) I'm exhausted, and 2) I don't really know what to say, beyond that it was fantastic, and part of an amazing week of music. Verena's transcription of Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man was stunning, in no small part because of soprano Hila Plitmann. The Michigan State University concert the next evening was equally impressive - piece after piece of really great and thrilling music. Asphalt Cocktail rocked even harder than I thought it would (and I expected plenty of rockin' to begin with). John made me envious (again) with his ability to lay down a complex yet satisfying groove with concert percussion and band. I *must* get me some of that. Carter Pann showed us in Concerto Logicthat he's ridiculously talented with the piano chops, and oh yeah, he also writes some decent music (!). Ricardo Lorenz, on faculty at Michigan State, burst onto the scene with his masterful first work for band, El Muro. Finally, Bolcom's new Symphony was impressive. I still feel a little ambivalent about some of the structural choices (the seemingly disparate clash of different musical moods and material didn't quite rub me the right way), but it was still a hell of a piece.

There was much more to the week, but I'm exhausted, and am in no mood to attempt real reviews of the music - not my job or my area of expertise. I'm eternally indebted to Jerry Junkin and the UT Wind Ensemble for playing the hell out of Ecstatic Waters. I'm a little sad that the piece's run at UT has come to an end, but I look forward to all the planned performances around the US next year! Mostly, though, I'm itching to get back to composing - haven't written a note since I finished Axis Mundi last Fall. Speaking of which, the recording is coming...today!

Ecstatic in Austin

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:13:00 +0000

Tonight's the night: Jerry Junkin and the University of Texas WInd Ensemble will perform Ecstatic Waters as part of the national CBDNA conference. If you're coming to the concert, get there early (having a ticket is no guarantee of admission). If you're not in the area, but want to listen online, it will be streamed live here:

University of Texas Austin Wind Ensemble, March 27th, 2009.

CBDNA begins... (plus the radio show download)

noreply@blogger.com (Steve) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Familiar faces are swooping into town from everywhere, as the national CBDNA conference gets underway here in Austin. It's nice to go to one of these big conventions...and still be at home. In fact, I've lived in or near the city of each of the past three national conventions - New York in 2005, Ann Arbor in 2007 (I lived down the road in Bowling Green), and now Austin in 2009. If this continues, that'd mean I'll be in Seattle in 2011, but that doesn't look likely at this point.

Last night the first wave of the Japanese contingent arrived, in full party mode. I treated them to some snacks at Moonshine Grill, and introduced them to Shiner Bock and Shiner 100. They seemed to approve. :)

More this week, I'm sure - my big concert is Friday night with Jerry Junkin and the Univ. of Texas Wind Ensemble. Family and friends from all over are coming in for the group's performance of Ecstatic Waters, as well as the world premiere of V's new wind band transcription of John Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man on the very same concert. Hila Plitmann (that'd be Grammy-Award-Winning-Vocalist-Hila-Plitmann) is here to sing the premiere, and she sounded unbelievable in rehearsal today. It's going to be a hell of a night. In fact, the whole week has some of the most exciting programs I've ever seen - premieres and pieces by many of my friends and contemporaries, as well as William Bolcom's new symphony on Saturday night. All the gory details here.

I also hear JM has a brand new camera, so expect many pictures from this corner of the web. I'm just eager to finish off the week with an Asphalt Cocktail.

Lastly, here's the radio interview I did last week: Knowing the Score, with Dan Welcher. It's a 68Mb download, FYI. One small misleading bit (that I neglected to tell Dan - it's my fault, not his) - I'd just returned from Japan when we did the interview, but not for a performance of Ecstatic Waters, as Dan mentioned, but for the premiere of a brand new work, Axis Mundi, which, if you're one of the two people who read this blog, you will already know. Enjoy!