My Music Highlights of 2014

2014 has been a strong year for me in pursuing my goals as an emerging composer.

In March, I had the privilege of having one of my works-in-progress read by the professional string group from Moscow, Chamber Orchestra Kremlin. This was a tremendous experience, and I was much impressed by their playing skill. They inspired me to want to write more for orchestra.

In the spring I finished my first year as a graduate student in the Masters program at WOU, and continued working on new pieces, including a short work for guitar and winds called Cranes.

On Dec. 3, my first complete piece for full orchestra, Citations Musicales, was performed by the Western Oregon Symphony. It is a suite of three movements based on piano works by French composer Erik Satie. Working with the symphony was another excellent experience for me as a composer.

I did not perform much this year, but had the honor of singing in the Western Hemisphere Voices backing choir for influential songwriter Allen Toussaint’s show with Western Hemisphere Orchestra on Dec. 6.

I also sang this year with Vox Capitolio, a new choir being organized by a friend from WOU. We performed a program of Christmas classics at several local venues, finishing off with a well-received performance at the Zoo Lights in Portland on Dec. 23.

All in all, this has been a pretty great year for my music, and I look forward to 2015 when I will be completing my Master’s degree, putting on a recital of more of my latest works, and producing a recording project. I will continue to put my music forward for performance opportunities as I further hone my craft. So stay tuned for further developments from me, and I wish you all a happy and successful 2015!

And thanks for all the likes and shares! I appreciate knowing people are interested in what is going on with me and my music! Happy New Year!

My First Orchestra Work to be Performed This Week - Reflections

This coming Wednesday night (Dec. 3 @ 7:30pm) the Western Oregon Symphony will be performing one of my pieces, Citations Musicales, an arrangement I made of three Erik Satie piano pieces, transcribed and adapted for full orchestra. This has been a wonderful project for me, and it will be the first time a complete orchestra work of mine will be performed publicly. (Listen to a sample of the music on YouTube here.)

It is actually going to be the third time I have worked with an orchestra on a piece of mine. This past March, I had a reading session with the visiting strings-only group, Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, of two movements of a totally original composition titled Enkidu Suite (inspired by the Gilgamesh epic). The reading went really well — they are amazing players — but the piece is still a work-in-progress and not ready for public performance. Still, while working on that piece I was inspired to work on a piece for full orchestra, and came up with the plan of doing the Satie arrangement and began working on it almost a year ago. In June, The Western Oregon Symphony performed an early version of the first movement of Citations Musicales.

I find Satie’s style very evocative and striking. The Sarabande that I orchestrated is probably my favorite of his pieces, and I find it very charming and beautiful. Each of the three pieces I selected presented different challenges for how to use the orchestra to capture the essence of the music. i am sure with each one my technique has grown considerably.

Something else I am learning in this process is how much work is involved with seemingly simple tasks such as revising the score and parts when I decide on a change or find a mistake. I have done one relatively “minor” revision to the first movement, and made small changes or fixes to quite a few of the parts. (Just tonight we found a mistake in the cello part, and decided on a change in the timpani part!) I have no idea how much time total I have spent just revising parts and score, but any change always takes longer than I would anticipate. “Engraving” a music part involves not just the notes, but anything relating to the overall format that might change when you change a note. A change in a part also needs to be reflected in the conductor’s score, which has very different formatting requirements. So revisions are a detail-oriented and time-consuming task! When possible I try to maintain a file of my own notes on changes needed, so I can do as many in a batch as I can.

I am pleased to be presenting my piece, and thankful to the orchestra players and director Dr. Ike Nail for making this possible. I anticipate a great performance on Wednesday night, and I know this has been a great experience for me as a composer!

Minding the Melt (A Sonnet?)

Minding the Melt

Walking without a wrap, despite my recent cold,
the morning air stings inside my tender nose,
and trees patter down so much melting ice,
they must be wringing out the moss
that coats the crotch and purfle of every twig.
A gray squirrel with his tail fluffed wide
skids in fearless leaps from leaf-patched grass
and scales the nearest trunk.

Above the scene, the November-angled sun spotlights
his fast acrobatics and embosses the glassy
chilled surface of everything – curbs, shrubs, puddles, mud.
The trees don’t seem to care who might venture under
their sagging limbs. They distill a private
rain song from last night’s freeze.


(Nov. 14 & 15, 2014)

Haiku

After warm rains, a
brown marmorated stink bug
hangs on my bed stand.


(10/22/2014)

Apparently these are an invasive species accidentally brought to the U.S. from Asia a few years ago. They are considered pests because they damage ornamental and crop plants. We're seeing a lot of them in the area right now.

Equinox (poem)

Equinox


Soft, slender, pallid moon
untouched by cloying, custard clouds,
unmoved by graying steely sky,
unmatched for delicate features.

Acorns dropped on dusty earth
(to separate the brown and shade)
recall how fast the twilight fades
on a late September walk.

A dog breaks a stern note.
Ashen green and stony must,
the path is worn by summer tread,
by grass, by footprints, by twigs.

The measured hour has passed again.
Comes soon the starry dark
and brings the cooling, sweaty dusk:
no bird, no breeze, no rain.


(9/28/2014)

Reflections on my pride in my work in music so far

This month I’m preparing to start my second and final year as a masters student in music composition.

I’ve worked hard for the past several years to carve a niche for myself in music.

I love to make new music. I listen to recordings I’ve made, often with the invaluable help of friends and mentors at school, and I feel like I’ve done good work. I’ve created something of value that I can really appreciate and feel proud to share. I’ve added a little bit of light to the world, illuminating its beauty.

Some of my favorite pieces are not my most recent, but I’m still writing good music. My wish is that I write more and more, and find more and more ways to get out into the world with my positive energy and love of beauty.

I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped me and collaborated with me along the way, and continues to support me in my work. I’ve learned so much, gained so much. I hope you feel similarly. Thank you!

Zephyr (poem)

Zephyr

(word, woven
reaching fronds
curved
  a tree round
watching
wind-dancing)

Woven-wound and wind-dancing,
a curved tree watches its fronds,
to reach airy conclusions.

A bird, holed up, corroborates
its wit: cotton-leafed wings
whistle the midsummer postprandial breeze.

July, still before a thunder-burst.


(7/22/2014)

Creating in a VISUAL Mode

Music events need posters to help in getting the word out, and one of the music-related jobs I've enjoyed is getting to design posters for concerts and other music-related events. I thought I would let folks on here know that I have a little "portfolio" set up on my Flickr account, here. Check it out!

Here are a couple of my favorites on there right now...




Something I enjoy is taking an image of a classic work of art and using it to represent a music event. Does art ever affect how you feel about music?

Sails

I have not shared on here for a couple of weeks, so here is an interesting rendition of Debussy's Prelude, Voiles, transcribed for violin and piano and performed by Grigory Feygin:


http://youtu.be/dWtKlnktFNY

Debussy's use of whole tone and pentatonic scales gives this piece a unique and evocative sense of space. Voiles is French for "sails." The original piano work is number two from Debussy's first book of Preludes, 1909–1910.

Two Events Next Week (June 2 & June 4)

I'm pleased to announce that I've managed to get two of my new pieces onto concert programs in the coming week:

* Spectrum! at Western Oregon University *

Monday, June 2, 2014 @ 7:30 p.m.

Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR

Smith Recital Hall

**FREE**

A new instrumental song of mine called Cranes will be performed as part of an all-new program of works by WOU composers. You can preview the song on my SoundCloud stream.

* Western Oregon Symphony previews Citations Musicales (“Musical Quotations”) *

Wednesday, June 4, 2014 @ 7:30 p.m.

Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR

Rice Auditorium

$3 general / $1 students & seniors (WOU students free w/ ID)

Early 20th-century French composer Erik Satie was an under-appreciated genius in his time. He is best-known for his piano character pieces, such as the early Gymnopedies, and later Sports et Divertissiments. The Western Oregon Symphony will debut a new arrangement by me of three of his piano works. This concert will include a preview of the first movement, based on a manuscript unpublished in Satie's lifetime.

To get updates on my concert schedule you can "Like" me on Facebook, and sign up for my email list.

Mosquito

Mosquito

As early evening’s open doors
and warm May air usher in
a roving hypodermic,

I spot him, gnawing my
left third finger
near the second joint,

wide with blood,
brown striped, bird-like,
he feeds, and flees too quick,

so with an angry clap
I mash him midair
and spot my palms with red.


(5/12/2014)

Throwback Thursday: Playing with the band!

This was a fun experience. I've since played with a couple of other bands, in addition to some singing.

http://youtu.be/U2_MJ0KAqg4

Haiku

Haiku

tulips torn by rain
Bashō waxes nostalgic
month of white flowers


(4/21/2014)

Billy Collins TED Talk: When Does Creativity Start and End?

This blog is less like a blog the more busy I get. So here is a new post, not a poem by me but a cool little TED talk by former U.S. Poet Laureate Bill Collins:

When Does Creativity Start and End?

http://www.npr.org/2012/06/01/153699514/when-does-creativity-start-and-end

I appreciate that question, by the way, and the sentiment that poetry is harder than writing.