songs for the cure '11

A few months ago my friend Josh Whelchel asked me and a few other composer and artist friends to contribute to his Songs for the Cure '11: REIKI, which features 15 art, electronic and classical tracks by notable composers and musicians.

"Bullet Time" is part of this project. You can download the single digital track for $1 OR order/download the entire album.

Either way, all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

old-time music

Instead of studying for my qualifying exam or working on my orchestra piece, I've decided to stall by writing a piece for violinists Nick Naegele and Joshua Ulrich.

I don't know if postponing my exams and my orchestra piece is a wise decision, mainly because my mother wonders when I'm graduating and Mr. Gibson already wants to see some orchestra sketches, but all I have to say is…

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS! I'm writing a piece for Nick and Josh! They are such fantastic players that I can't pass up an opportunity to write them a piece.

So, does anyone know how to survive with little sleep? Reduce grading time? Install a dishwasher? 'Cause this girl has to write some new music.

I've started to research this piece by watching some YouTube videos. I thought I'd share them.

so close, and yet, so far

Maybe you're wondering what I've been up to in the past month and why I haven't been blogging as much. I've started my new job at Northern Kentucky University. I'm prepping for the orchestration class I'm teaching in a couple days. I'm writing program notes for the inaugural Constella Festival in Cincinnati. And I have to take another qualifying exam, this time in music history. In other words, I have not been composing, which is slowly killing me inside.

I understand why I need to take this exam: I need to prove to those in charge that I'm competent in my knowledge of Western music history before they issue my third sheet of paper. It makes sense.

Fortunately, I've been enjoying studying scores and listening to music that I've shoved aside as a younger undergraduate. Haydn, I get your music now. And every time you insert silence into your London Symphonies, I believe that you did cut off a fellow chorister's pigtail. I respect you, dude.

long ride in a slow machine

Remember #BudgetClassical on Twitter, where people created low-budget versions of famous pieces?

I think one person suggested the title "Long Ride in a Slow Machine."

Um, I wrote that piece. Seriously.

As a freshman, I was given a rhythmic percussion assignment (we probably had to use metric modulation or something like that), and it had to be four minutes long. And I found a recording of it this weekend.

So, here is "Long Ride in a Slow Machine," written in 2000. (Notice it was written eleven years ago?! In fact, I'm too afraid to listen to it. Also, because this piece is so old, and because this wasn't actually performed in concert, I don't remember the names of my players. But they rock, whoever they are.)

Long Ride in a Slow Machine (2000) by jenniferjolley

Image by jered on Flickr, Creative Commons License v. 2.0

it has been ten years (vermont edition)

Before I talk about Vermont's concert contribution to the ten-year anniversary of 9/11, I have an update on the Music After Concert. They've received good coverage about the event: they were featured on the SoundNotion podcast, WQXR's "The New Canon," and mentioned by Anne Midgette on her blog in the Washington Post and on Alex Ross's "The Rest is Noise." However, they still need your help, so please contribute.

So yeah, little ol' Vermont, the state that was recently devastated by Hurricane Irene (which took out homes, roads, and historic bridges, by the way), has compiled and commissioned eleven tribute pieces to 9/11. The Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, the brainchild ensemble behind these commissions, will be performing them again in concert twice (once on September 11).