silly hats

On a personal note, I accomplished something I wanted to do since I was twelve years old: earn a doctorate in something.

Did I want to be a scholar? Yes, but I don't think I completely grasped what that meant. Did I think I could teach everyone at that level? Oh yes. Did I think I would know everything by that point? Most certainly. And did my young Republican self want to earn a doctorate because I would make way more money than the average high school graduate? You betcha.¹

Anyway, I finally earned my degree last year in August, and now I have the ceremony to go with it.

Now back to grading.

———

1. Yes, times have changed.

composer FAIL #65

Yes Dennis, that is your cat.

Not related to composer FAILs but somewhat related, kudos to Caroline Shaw for winning the Pulitzer Prize in Music for her "Partita for 8 Voices." I am DIGGING it (minus the random Spotify ads), and I want to hear it live someday. According to the NPR Deceptive Cadence blog, "[Shaw] noted that she sent in the piece for Pulitzer consideration — not that she thought that there was much chance of winning, but because she wanted more recognition for Roomful of Teeth's work."

So guess what we're all going to do? Submit our stuff! Might as well.

And on that note:

And life goes on.

excerpt of the bubble

Before I start, I wanted to give a shout-out to Spencer Lambright, Chrissy Kim, Paula Van Goes, Nancy Gamso, and volunteer performers (for the "Press Play" piece) at the Middle Tennessee State University and Ohio Wesleyan University concerts on Wednesday and Saturday. What a fun crazy electronic music show! I can't thank all of you guys enough! (And for those who missed out, hopefully I'll have video of the show posted soon.)

And, before I show you said video of said excerpt of THE BUBBLE, I also wanted to put in a plug about the Performance and Time Arts April Fundraising Extravaganza. I mean, this show will be off the hook, and Kari Olson will be adding movement to "Ticket Punch" of Speilzeug Straßenbahn fame. (Who am I kidding? This piece isn't famous. Yet.) Advance tickets (or in other words, cheaper tickets) are available by clicking here.

the chiptune revolution

A few weeks ago I was excitedly and meticulously planning my trip to Chicago—I was having a premiere of Speilzeug Straßenbahn at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and what girl would not be thrilled?

I had my entire trip mapped out: I booked a hotel and rental car, ordered a new dress and new boots online, and I was ready to hit the road as soon as I was done teaching my composition lesson for that day.

However, two days before my Chicago debut I received this email:

"Hi Jennifer, I wanted to let you know straight away that in discussion with the MCA it has been decided to reschedule this weeks concerts for another date. The MCA are totally committed to the project, as am I, and we will figure out another time when they can happen. Sorry if this causes any inconvenience and I look forward to presenting your work in the future."

I was in shock. I just told my students an hour prior to reading that email that their classes were canceled due to my being out-of-town for this performance. Did I lie to them? I mean, they probably read about my new piece in their school's electronic newsletter. A preview piece was even published in the Chicago Sun-Times. For a split second, I was wondering if I made up this whole premiere in my head—because why would anyone ask me to write a piece for them when Anna Clyne, Elbio Barilari, David Fulmer, Jason Seed, and Christopher Theofanidis were on the same bill?

composer WIN #13

So yay, Krispy Kremes and Butter Queens was accepted into a festival! I think this is a first!

I'm excited that I'm on the same bill as Veronica Krausas (who was a grad student at USC when I was an undergrad there) and Charles Halka, which, coincidentally enough, is an opera that NANOWorks has premiered and produced. In fact, I may chime in and state that NANOWorks has produced two of the short operas that New Fangled Opera will have as part of their festival, which will take place June 7th and 8th in New Orleans.

(Can I also give a shout-out to Chris and Shelley Burton for founding a new opera company in New Orleans dedicated to performing and producing new works?! Rock on.)

The only bad news is that I cannot make this performance because NANOWorks will be producing something at the same time. I am not allowed to announce anything yet, but I will keep you posted. (Oh, and I'm missing a trip to NOLA.)

And speaking of NANOWorks, our first full-evening production compiled of short new operas twenty-five minutes or less will be taking place on May 3rd and 4th. The program includes a regional premiere of Douglas Pew's new opera A Game of Hearts, Halka's "Layover," as well as a couple more treats and surprises. Tickets are now on sale.

Click here for tickets to the May 3rd show (Terrace Park).

Click here for tickets to the May 4th show (Cincinnati).

composer FAIL #64

Hi Lindsay Cat, you always make me feel better, especially when I think my music has a chance in a certain composition competition.

I was hoping to win this one, especially since I paid some money to enter this competition. Remind me again to never pay a fee for a competition again.

he did it

Well, he did it. The composer who wears a healthy dose of Hawaiian shirts, has a fondness for penguins, and can easily tell by the look of my face if I'm wanting to write an opera again has won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

Bravo Stephen Hartke. I am so happy for you.

eighth blackbird- Meanwhile (incidental music for imaginary puppet plays) --- a short film by Manual Cinema from eighth blackbird on Vimeo.

*And bravi to eighth blackbird. You guys rock.

banana mashup

I have a feeling some of you were wondering what I was doing with a whole bunch of bananas, mini alligator clips, and my laptop, so let me explain.

This past weekend I was attending the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) for the first time, and I knew I was going to be there for SOME TIME, so why not have fun?

Long story short, I received a MaKey MaKey for Christmas (thanks Love!), and I loved it so much that I made my Intro to Electronic Students purchase one for their final project.

I wanted to create a keyboard of my own, so after a stop at Kroger for bananas and an extension cord, I set up my keyboard at the Ohio Wesleyan University booth at OMEA. I used bananas, a MaKey MaKey, my laptop, and my "Sounds from the Gray Goo 1.01" Max/MSP patch. BLAMO.

Now, what to do with those bananas…I wonder what I can do with bananas…

how to write an opera in 24 hours (or so I think)

Photographer: Tim Wilkerson for The Atlanta Opera

It is time to dust off this blog and mooch a story from The Atlanta Opera since it is their third annual 24-Hour Opera Project.  I do have fond memories of the event last year, and I'm sad I won't be able to participate this year.¹ However, I do plan to throw a party and watch the live-streaming of the show. (Advantage: I get a good night's sleep this time around. The participants this year…not so much.)

I wish everyone luck (including my sharp and quick librettist from last year, Vynnie Meli, who is crazy enough to participate for the third year in a row), and I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing their stuff. Even though we composers may not like to crampose, sometimes we create some fantastic work under pressure.²

From last year's 24HOP: Layover by Sarah Hersh and Brad Fairchild, produced by NANOWorks.

———

1. Audition weekend.

2. I will keep telling myself when I write The Bubble. I guess I will need to eat lots of cocoa almond spread to get me through this month. Sob.

composer FAILs #62 & #63

What better way to start my birthday the year with a couple of rejection letters I should have posted earlier. Actually, these two are not terribly soul-crushing because they do not contain the same wording most rejection letters normally have. See below.

I must confess I had been anticipating a traditional rejection letter from this establishment for the past few weeks, and then I realized that THIS is the rejection letter. I was confused: there were no "thanks for submitting your piece" or "we had a gazillion fine entries" or "unfortunately your piece was not selected" statements that are normally sprinkled across generic rejection templates.

So, I'm posting this. I'll let you know if a real rejection letter appears in my inbox anytime soon.