Jan.26.12
Having moved to New York just about seven months ago, I’ve been slowly adjusting to life both in a new place and with a new occupation, having previously been a continuous student since age 4. In addition to composing, I’ve been working as the producing associate for both Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theatre Group. Working for the two organizations and being around so many working artists are proving to be a great learning experience, which in turn have spurred some new music.
In the fall, I wrote a 7-minute (really slow) orchestra piece called Draw Close, But Speak Not, as my entry to this year’s American Composers Orchestra reading sessions competition. After that, I was commissioned by Steven Pilkington and Christ Church United Methodist for a new anthem for Transfiguration Sunday, which this year falls on February 19. The story of Transfiguration sees Jesus and three companions going on a hiking trip up a mountain, wherein Jesus’s visage becomes radiant. Moses and Elijah appears by his side (as was foretold), and God’s voice rings out, “This Is My Beloved Son; Hear Him!” I like drama, and I’d say this story is pret-ty dramatic. For the text, I mashed up bits of the Transfiguration story as found in the synoptic gospels, in the KJV.
The new piece, Transfiguration Sunday, is scored for mixed chorus, handbell choir (because Christ Church has a wonderful handbell ensemble directed by Mr. Cory Davis), string quartet and organ, and will be performed as a part of the February 19 service, at 11am.
Photo of Christchurch Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, taken in 1963. The Cathedral suffered a lot of damage from the recent earthquake in 2011. Photograph by christchurchcitylibraries, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
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Nov.13.11
We had a very successful Rhymes With Opera salon on October 23! Here we are setting up for Cory Davis’s two arrangements of Nina Simone, for Cory (also on piano) and string quartet. The event was a great success, and took place in the beautiful fellowship hall at Christ Church United Methodist. We also performed Heartbreak Express, a monodrama with a libretto by John Clum, for baritone, violin and viola. Heartbreak will be revised and expanded for a later performance with RWO. Photo by Morgan Evans.
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Aug.5.11
around the corner where I work, next to the Manhattan Bridge. i think it’s a sign.
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Jul.10.11
Just back from the inaugural Gesher Music Festival at the St. Louis Jewish Community Center, where my friend and the festival’s artistic director Sara Sitzer performed the new cello suite that I had written for the festival. Here I’m giving a quick “program note” speech before Sara performs the first movement. (Photo by Dan Donovan)
Hear a recording of the work, or take a look at the score.
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Apr.20.11
Sandra Cotton (Skylar) and Scott MacLeod (Kevin), from the April 15-16 performances of The Persistence of Smoke at Golden Belt, Durham, NC. Photo by Elizabeth Thompson.
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Mar.21.11
A wonderful poster by Robin!
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Mar.16.11
The documentary opera is done (!) and the performances will take place over at Golden Belt in downtown Durham on April 15 and 16. The show is presented by the Duke University Department of Music, and is a double-bill with a really beautiful piece by Kathleen Bader called Tentative Embrace. My friend Jay O’Berski will be directing Smoke, and Sandra Cotton, Scott MacLeod, David Weigel, and my good friend from our Peabody days, Nakia Verner, will be singing in the production.
Kathleen’s piece will feature both the Ciompi Quartet and the Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, and I will be conducting both pieces. Check out the show’s website for more info. If you’re in the NC area, I hope you can come check it out!
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Dec.2.10
The last time I was involved in a year-long project of writing an opera back in senior year at BU, I took a break in between orchestrating to write a short set of songs after Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, for tenor and piano. The piece, which I called A Sea Elegy, was a much needed reprieve from the opera project, which dragged on incessantly as I crawled down the pages of my libretto.
As I began orchestrating my current opera project, I was delighted to receive a request from Contemporary Musicking in Hong Kong to write a new score for Charlie Chaplin’s 1917 Mutual comedy short, Easy Street. The concert, scheduled for January 2011, features four Hong Kong composers writing new music to Chaplin’s short silent films, played live to the picture by a string quartet. The show also includes Philip Glass’s string quartets.
Working through Easy Street has made me appreciate Chaplin’s work – the timing, the social commentary, the shots, the sets. I was also thankful that I had some passing experience working on a similar project over at Dartington about six years ago now, in a film scoring course led by Miguel Mera. There, six composers wrote five-minute scores to chunks of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. It was (and still is) great fun to put music to picture, and trying to do all the Mickey-Mousing to my heart’s content.
Trying to do both at once, orchestrate and score this movie. Wish me luck.
Photo from flickr // CC by 2.0 // schoffer
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