Steven Bryant

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...

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 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.

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...

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.

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...

Yesterday I taped an interview with Dan Welcher for his radio show Knowing the Score, which will air tomorrow evening (March 22nd) at 8pm on KMFA (89.5 here in Austin). This is the same show that John Mackey just did a couple of weeks ago, with the difference that I did it in a jet-lag-induced haze, having just gotten back from Japan the day before...good thing it wasn't live! :)

If you're not...

I've started a post about everything that happened in Japan, but it's apparent I'm not going to finish it any time soon, so it will have to wait until after CBDNA. In the meantime, here are a few photos...

Just a brief note to say that the premiere of Axis Mundi was spectacular. The bands in Japan are unbelievable. Outrageously good. My eternal thanks to Mamoru Nakata for spearheading the JWECC consortium, and to Shintaro Fukumoto for conducting the hell out of the piece. They'll be bringing a recording with them to CBDNA in a week, so I'll post it soon!

Much much more to report, but must now...

Jerry Junkin and the UT Wind Ensemble just blew the doors off the Meyerson with Ecstatic Waters tonight. Holy cow. I've been extraordinarily fortunate to have had such time with, and access to, one of the very top wind ensembles in the nation, if not the world, and am infinitely grateful to Maestro Junkin for taking on the challenge of this work. I can't WAIT to do this again at CBDNA here...

...at ABA last Thursday night. I rode over to the ABA convention with Verena and AEJ on the band bus (hooray for band bus trips!), to hear the UT Wind Ensemble give their concert at Texas A&M. It was a hell of a concert - for me, the biggest highlights were Sunil Gadgil's absolutely astounding performance of Bolcom's Concert Suite for Alto Saxophone and Band, and John Mackey's Kingfishers...

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...