composer FAIL #15

I wasn't going to apply to this 24-Hour Opera Project, but after talking with Doug about this, I kind of need any connection I can get my hands on to produce this supposed opera of mine.

(15 down, 15 to go.)

my interview with sequenza21

photo taken by suby raman

For those who missed it, here is my interview with Sequenza21 about the 2010 Midwest Composers Symposium. Garrett Schumann couldn't attend the event in person (which is too bad, really), so he asked me to answer a few questions.

how to be a deep thinker in los angeles video

The Midwest Composers Symposium came and went, and what I got out of it was this fantastic performance of "How to be a Deep Thinker in Los Angeles" by Tyler Niemeyer.

composer FAIL #14

I think I have a new goal now: 30 rejection letters before I turn 30. I have 16 to go.

2010 midwest composer symposium concert v preview

from Jerod Sommerfeldt's "Linear"

Before I list the concert order for the MCS Concert V, here's a reminder that the opening night concert of the Midwest Composers Symposium is TONIGHT at 8 PM! Be there for works by me, Hoose, Zuckerman, Clay, Zare, and Lindsay.

Concert V
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Werner Recital Hall
8 PM

Charrette (2008)
Carrie Magin (CCM) (b. 1981)
Nick Naegele, violin
Bryce Mullins, guitar

2010 midwest composer symposium concert iv preview

Before I give you the concert listing for the MCS Concert IV, this is a pathetic plug that Tyler Niemeyer will be performing How to be a Deep Thinker in Los Angeles. I don't have a preview video of a prior performance, but instead, watch Tyler and I jam (video at the end of the post).

Concert IV
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Werner Recital Hall
4 PM

Libera Me (2010)
Josh Whelchel (CCM) (b. 1987)
Sarah Tucker, soprano
Ryan Connely, tenor
Sarah Yaksic, clarinet
Cleo Leung, flute
Lindsay Kleiser, oboe
Rachel Denlinger, violin
Michael Nelson, violin
Ben Richards, viola
Titi Ayangade, cello
Christian Schlorman, double bass
Gonçalo Lourenço, conductor

How to be a Deep Thinker in Los Angeles (2009)
Jennifer Jolley (CCM) (b. 1981)
Tyler Niemeyer, percussion

2010 midwest composer symposium concert iii preview

Here is the concert listing for the MCS Concert III.

Concert III
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Werner Recital Hall
2 PM

Twitch (2010)
Anthony Donofrio (Iowa) (b. 1981)
Rolando Jose Hernandez-Gaitan, flute
Marjorie Shearer, clarinet
Jacqueline Wilson, bassoon
Emily Rolka, violin
Yoo-Jung Chang, violoncello
Meghan Aube, marimba
Daniel Houglum, conductor

bored? try soundtoys.net

I've been asked required to give a presentation in my artsy sound art class on web-based interactive sound art, so here are a couple of applications from soundtoys.net (as suggested by my professor).

Contrapuntus Variations

What drew me to this application was that anyone could create music or sound without any musical training. This reminded me of Jason Freeman's "Compose Your Own" article in the New York Times's Opinionator blog, except he inadvertently selected composer contributions as his favorites. Oops.

As stated on the first page, "Contrapuntus allows visitors to generate their own musical contribution, which may be part of a live performance from the Third Angle New Music Ensemble."

Wait, what?

2010 midwest composer symposium concert ii preview

Here is the concert listing for the MCS Concert II.

Concert II
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Werner Recital Hall
10:30 AM

Dervisha (2009)
Subaram Raman (Michigan) (b. 1986)
Daniel Graser, alto saxophone
Zach Stern, alto saxophone
Joseph Girard, alto saxophone
Charlie Kemp, alto saxophone
Danny Hawthorne-Foss, alto saxophone
Katherine Weintraub, alto saxophones





Olympus: Three Miniatures of Greek Gods (2010)
I. Eros
II. Ares
III. Dionysus
Brian Penkrot (Iowa) (b. 1978)
Nora Epping, flute
Marjorie Shearer, clarinet
Yoo-Jung Chang, violoncello
Jikyung Kam, piano

2010 midwest composer symposium concert i preview

The Midwest Composers Symposium is coming to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music! For those who don't know about this yearly event, read here:

The Midwest Composers Symposium is a consortium made up of the composition departments of four American Midwest Universities: The University of Cincinnati, Indiana University, and the Universities of Iowa and Michigan. The purpose is to allow students to have contact with other composers at nearby institutions, and to foster connections and self-identity.

The Symposium began in 1948 by Anthony Donato of Northwestern University and originally Michigan, Illinois, and Iowa. For a few years during the 1960s, the symposium concerts ceased due to a change in academic calendars, but resumed in the early 1970s when most schools adopted the quarter system. Oberlin College joined at this point, and a few years later, Indiana University. Northwestern dropped out in 1992, and Illinois and Oberlin dropped out in 2007. The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music joined the symposium for the first time in 2008.

Here is a preview of the pieces (with some links). (N.B. My piece The Aquarium The Silent World will be performed, and this time I am using piano mutes.)

creating the hartke piano mute

As seen in King of the Sun, Meanwhile AND soon to be seen in my piece The Aquarium The Silent World, you too can create the Stephen Hartke soft piano mute!

Stephen Hartke wrote these instructions in Meanwhile:

"Soft piano mutes are required beginning in movement III. These are made by filling a child’s cotton sock with about four pounds of BBs, sewing the end of the sock closed, then enclosing it in two more socks, each of them sewn shut as well. The mute is roughly a foot long and when laid across the strings near the tuning pins and gently tamped down, produces an effect similar to that of individually hand-muting the strings, but has the advantage of muting about an octave and a half."

I have decided to construct these mutes because stuffing a piano full of kitchen towels didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

play me i'm yours - fountain square east

A follow-up to the last Play Me I'm Yours Post: I did go to Oktoberfest, and due to my slight drunken stupor, I may have purchased a chicken hat. Here is another silly conversation transcript:

Me: Which chicken hat looks better? The white one or the black one?
Love: Um, you're wearing a chicken hat.

The chicken hat is now in the closet and will resurface next September.

In the meantime, enjoy the second interlude.

composer FAILs #12 & #13

This one was a bit...verbose.

I had to chop off the rest of this email because it was so wordy. At least they apologized for the "impersonal nature of this message." What did I send again?

Next one:

Okay, I think this is the competition where I used the pseudonym "Captain Hammer." Dangit, what do I use now? Margaret Yang? Mr. Littlejeans? Dirk Calloway?

save the princess! sound installation proposal

I mentioned in passing that I'm taking an advanced sound art class. I suppose I should have taken the intro to sound art class, but that would have been too easy.

Anyway, we all have to create a sound installation as our final project, and I actually found a way to force myself to play video games. (Or, you can gather that I'm compensating for not growing up with a Nintendo Entertainment System. I know, it's tragic: my parents have robbed me of my childhood because I have yet to save the princess in both Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. It's true.) Here's the proposal.

i'm anticipating a composer FAIL

As tweeted by Chris Richards (@8bbAdvocate), here are all 504 submissions to eighth blackbird's comp comp.

Oh holy hell. I do not envy their job one bit.

david lang's (untitled)

Here is a transcript of a silly conversation I had with my love while watching the film (untitled).

Me: That's a David Lang piece!
Love: Probably. He did score the film.
Me: I know, but I know what piece that is! And I recently saw Yu-Chun perform it on a percussion recital! I think that's So Percussion playing! And that's Lisa Moore!

Later...

Me: That's another David Lang piece! I know which one that is!
Love: Jenn, they're *all* David Lang pieces. He scored the film.