composer FAIL #48

I know this is the fourth consecutive composer FAIL I've posted on my blog, and I deeply apologize to you weary readers. If you haven't noticed, I've adopted posting a cute cat picture above these gloomy rejection letters since cute cats deflect the somber reality of an over-saturated job market.

(Yes, I'm running out of cat pictures.)

Did I have a chance? Nope.

composer FAIL #47

Part two of "wait…I was going to reject you first"…‡

Now I just need June in Buffalo to reject me and my summer plans will be complete.

[N.B. My life is not completely filled with rejection letters: here's a write-up in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about that one opera I wrote.]

‡Who really rejects an acceptance to the Aspen Music Festival? Maybe I should start applying for the second section instead of the first one.

composer FAIL #46

In mid-June, my graduate funding officially ends. I knew the time would come, although I can't complain—CCM has been quite financially supportive during my five years here. It's time for me to move on; the parents are kicking me out.

So, over the last two months I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to support the Jolley family unit (Love plus two cats) without the financial aid next year. Lately I've applied to some summer grants and jobs.‡

Have I applied to every single summer grant and job? You betcha.

composer FAIL #45

Onward and upward.

The good news is, one of the arias I submitted will be performed at the end of March…arranged for TUBA. More details soon.

uc graduate school promo

Remember that UC Graduate School Promotional video I scored? No? You know, the project from August 2010? Well, a couple of months ago I finally found out what happened to the music I recorded.

Long story short, the director originally conceived a four-minute promotional short, but then it turned into a twelve-minute project. I was asked to score the original four minutes of video without seeing anything.* And last November, the director informed me that the video was three times as long, and because of all the delays and re-filming or something or other, they barely used my music.

But that's okay: it's faintly playing during the CCM portion of the film while singers are discussing the program. (0:14–0:50) Enjoy.

*Normally the film composer starts scoring the film during post-production, not during filming. I'm not going to lie—that was strange, but I did what I was told.

atlanta roadfood scrapbook

I have to admit, I was slightly more excited about eating my way to Atlanta than writing an opera in twenty-four hours. In fact, instead of having Veronica* dictate directions to my hotel, I had her direct me to different eateries in Lexington, Chattanooga, and Atlanta.

Thursday

J.J. McBrewster's (Lexington, KY)—I heard about this place on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network's website.

They even have mutton here.

back to the future

Well folks, I finally completed that orchestra project that I've been stressing over during the past couple of months. At first I was reluctant to write the piece because it is a non-commissioned school-related project, but now I feel that this piece is something I should be proud of. (I mean, it might actually sound good, despite the MIDI playback that made my ears bleed a little.)

Despite this sense of accomplishment and relief, I am a bit apprehensive about the artistic reception of the work because its construction takes us a hundred years into the past. It's programmatic.* The concept is extra-musical.** It sounds so…Neo-Romantic and…French.

Would an American orchestral work influenced by a French oceanic documentary and turn-of-the-century French orchestration appear to be a knockoff of a French symphonic poem? Maybe. Have I created Eurotrash? Possibly. However, despite my borrowing from the last century, I'm looking to the future: I turned my symphonic poem into a medium in which I comment on current issues. Stay tuned.

———
*The program notes will be read by a narrator. I have not found an actor yet. So, if you have an older, baritone voice and you're in town in April, let me know.
**The title of the work, Le monde du silence, is taken from the Jacques-Yves Cousteau's 1956 documentary of the same name.

live recording of double concerto

Here is the long-awaited recording of the Double Concerto for Violin and Fiddle! Enjoy! (And…enjoy the second movement when someone outside the recital hall had to keep slamming doors during a muted violin harmonics section…) Thanks again for Nick and Josh for the performance.
 

composer FAIL #44

It's time to come back down to earth, huh.

We all knew this was coming; however, there is a bright side: I don't have to write a string quartet. In fact, I can continue to write the opera I started over a year ago—once I'm done with the orchestra piece. (So close…so close…)

Also, I do have a couple of performances this weekend. If you happen to be in Vermillion, South Dakota on Friday or Ottawa, Ontario on Monday, be sure to check out the University of South Dakota's 60/60 Recital* and/or** the Ottawa New Music 60x60 Project.

———

*This is the piece I wrote on my birthday, and I'm dubbing this Composer WIN #7.
**AND/OR?!?! I can't even fly across the country to attend both. Yes, this makes me sad.

composer WIN #6, baby

That's not butter, it's mayonnaise. Grosssssssss.

Well, hot damn. After pulling an all-nighter (I rarely do them, I swear), my librettist Vynnie Meli and I wrote a pretty funny opera entitled Krispy Kremes and Butter Queens in twelve hours. Holy Cow. We did it. And then we submitted our somewhat complete opera about Paula Deen trying to get into heaven (complete with an aria about butter) to the stage and music directors, Michael Nutter and Paul Tate,* who completely got our story idea and coached the singers** (Christine Lyons as a most magnificent Paula Deen; Sondra Collins and John Elliot Yates and hilarious cooking assistants/angels) and produced (along with stage manager Rebecca Yan) the winner (and audience favorite!) of The Atlanta Opera's 24-Hour Opera Project.

Thanks, guys. We rocked.

For those who missed it, here's the video of the performance. Enjoy!

*Mr. Tate added tiny genius musical ideas in the score (since I may have left out stage directions and, oh, DYNAMICS) that I swear added another half-hour to my tiny compositional window.
**They were OFF BOOK. They had the opera completely memorized. I am amazed: they were that dedicated.