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.

road tripping to atlanta

If I played my cards right, I should be picking up my rental car and heading out to Atlanta right…now. As I've mentioned before, I'm participating in Atlanta Opera's 24-Hour Opera Project.

Can't make it to the performance? The final performances will be webcast LIVE on Ustream, Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 7pm EST. You can even vote for your “Audience Favorite” via the Ustream Chat feature, Twitter, or on Atlanta Opera's Facebook page.*

Next week I'll have a scrapbook of the 24-Hour Opera Project, but until then, be sure to watch!

*That's me, you know that, right? Because, if you don't vote for me, we can't be friends anymore.

31st birthday scrapbook

The Birthday Cake. It was sitting here the day before my birthday and all I could do was look at it. Seriously Paula Deen? You want me to wait three days before I can slice that thing?!

~~~

What did I do on my birthday? I slept in a little because I wasn't feeling completely well, taught a private theory lesson, and later that afternoon I drove to Diana's Dancewear because I decided I was too old for the full-sole ballet shoes that they give eight-year-olds to wear.*

the new year (2012)

All in all, 2011 wasn't a bad year. I turned 30 (finally) and was able to visit some friends in Austin, Vermont, New York, and Ottawa. (Yes, finally made it to Ontario, and not the city in California.) Even though I weathered a total of twenty-four composer FAILs (yes, that's quite a number), I had a couple of composer WINs, which included my participation in the MATA festival and my current adjunct gig. I truly can't complain.

What do I hope for in the new year? BALANCE. Also, finishing my orchestra piece on time would be great too. (My countdown widget currently says I have twenty-seven days and one hour until I'm toast.)

le monde de la procrastination

There it is: the orchestra board that lists my untitled future doom directly above Bruchner's magnum opus. Since this project was announced in March, I've successfully worked on two opera arias, completed a violin duo, studied for a music history qual that no longer exists (yes, I'm serious), and started adjuncting. So I've totally had lots of leftover time to work on my magnum opus.

Whoops.

Not that I haven't been trying—who says that score study can't be done during your twice-a-week, twenty-minutes-each-way commute? (Do you know what fits perfectly in that time frame? Ravel's La valse.) Or, why can't you cram all of your orchestral research during your two weeks off between semesters/quarters? (In my case, I've had to deal with both.)

So, while normal people have been overdosing on egg nog or cheesecake or See's Candies* or other holiday delicacies, my sketches now show the aftermath of gorging on Impressionist orchestral works and holiday tunes.**

composer WIN #5

It's a Solstice/Christmas/Hanukkah/Chrismukkah miracle. Just when I woke up a tad crummy due to (1) not waking up in time, (2) gaining a few extra pounds, and (3) realizing my orchestra piece wasn't writing itself (I might start crying if my ideas keep sucking so badly), I received this in my inbox.

I was so bummed yesterday morning that I didn't quite grasp the subject heading of "Invitation to the Atlanta Opera's 24-Hour Opera Project." I mean, I've been rejected before and I thought I'd received something similar to last year.

BUT NO—I didn't.

gray goo 1.01 at the CAC

Well, I hope you all had a good solstice and enjoyed riding the F train YESTERDAY, not tuesday. (I kind of messed up the date when I announced it on my blog.)

Oops.

Anyway, here's the last video from my "They Came…from the FUTURE!!!" concert at the CAC. With Zach Larabee, Mike Lunoe, and Ty Niemeyer. And me.

Enjoy! And happy holidays!

take the F train TODAY

Sorry this post is up a little later than usual: I was delayed by my grade submission duties and a McSkillet sausage burrito. Mmmmmmm…burrito.

But if I weren't sidelined by a burrito or stuck here in Cincinnati, I'd be in NYC taking the F Train TODAY between 7–8 p.m. Jim Holt, a composer I met earlier this year who curates the "My Ears Are Open" series has an installation called "Thru-Line," which will be performed today during this time. Says Jim:

"For this piece, 44 musicians will set up with their instrument at every subway platform along the Coney Island-bound F train line. They will all continuously perform the prelude from Johann Sebastian Bach’s 'Cello Suite No. 1 in G major.' Commuters will hear music while waiting on platforms, then hear snippets of the same music from inside the train, every time the doors open."

How cool is that? I'm a bit jealous of you New Yorkers right now, because this is an awesome way to celebrate winter.