Archive for March, 2009

A long trip

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

I’m currently stuck in Denver at the tail end of a long trip, but it’s been fantastic.

First, I went with the OPSU choirs on their trip to Chicago.  Our choir director, Matt Howell, did a fantastic job planning and executing a great trip while still keeping it within a reasonable price range for the students.  The choirs performed, but more importantly, they got to spend a week in the big city, navigating public transportation and taking in cultural things that just aren’t available in the Panhandle.  The London Symphony Orchestra gave a fantastic concert of Prokofiev with Gergiev and Feltsman–core repertoire.  The woodwinds in that group are simply astounding, and really made the Classical symphony sparkle.  I first saw Feltsman play about 15 years ago in Cincinnati, and he hasn’t lost any of his charm or technique–the Prokofiev 2nd concerto was putty in his hands.  The program ended with Prokofiev’s fifth symphony, which was absolutely sublime.

We were fortunate to get both a backstage tour and take in a performance at the Lyric Opera.  The production values and musical technique made me feel like I’d never heard opera before.  If you are in Chicago, be sure to take in the Lyric.

On our last full day, I spent the afternoon at the Art Institute of Chicago, which was absolutely worth the price of admission, even with their modern and contemporary collections currently in transition to the new building opening in May.  Then it was across the street to hear the Chicago Symphony play Mendelssohn (Italian), Prokofiev (left hand concerto), and Beethoven (Eroica).  I dare say it may have been an off night for the group… no need to mention any names.

Then it was back to Garden City, Kansas, where the choir headed back home and I hopped a plane to begin the rest of the trip.  I have now appeared in New York City as composer and trombonist.  David Morneau, Rob Voisey and Vox Novus set up a wonderful concert in the Jan Hus church in Manhattan, and I had a great time.  I played my trombone and electronic piece “Let Everything that Has Breath Praise the Lord” and my solo trombone piece, “What It’s Like.”  David, as always, had a fascinating collaboration with a dancer and a visual artist.  I only wish I was so cool.  A big “thank you” to David for making that happen.  Vox Novus does a concert at this fantastic venue on the East Side on the last Sunday afternoon of every month, so be sure to check it out.    It was a thrill to visit New York again (I hadn’t been since 1996) and to be there “on business.”  David and his wife Jolaine were wonderful hosts, and around the corner from their place in Astoria is an Italian bakery that I will remember until I die… amaretti!

So… I’m now stuck for the night in Denver because my flight home was delayed and I missed the connection back to Garden City, delaying my return to my beautiful, wonderful wife.  I still have one more stop on my “six weeks of insanity” that began with Oklahoma City in Feburary… the national SCI conference in Santa Fe.

University of Central Missouri New Music Festival

Friday, March 6th, 2009

Just a quick note on the University of Central Missouri New Music Festival (website here).  Warrensburg was a nice little town, and I really enjoyed pieces by Eric Honour, Jamie Sampson, Benjamin Williams, Ryan Jesperson.  Bravo to the four excellent trumpet players who put together my piece Sevens for its Missouri premiere, but I don’t know if anyone will remember it after the disco dancing pianists who followed in James Bohn’s entertaining Monkey in the Middle.  Momilani Ramstrum’s intriguing Gloved Water was another highlight, as was John Bilotta’s Sonatina.

SCI Region VI Conference: Oklahoma City

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

This post is from on the road–I’m now in Warrensburg, Missouri, getting set to attend the University of Central Missouri New Music Festival.  I drove up this morning from Oklahoma City, where I spent three fantastic days at Oklahoma City University.  Parents and high school teachers–if your kids are interested in majoring in music in college, have them look at OCU!  Fantastic facilities, great ensembles and just a wonderful atmosphere that includes an emphasis on new music.  It can be difficult to go to a new music conference and hear two-and-a-half days of contemporary music (12 concerts in 50 hours), but the folks at OCU made it easy.  Aside from one or two performances, the quality was extremely high across the board in nearly every studio.  Not only that, there were presentations of two operas.   I plan on recommending John Billota’s wonderful Quantum Mechanic to our vocal director at OPSU for next year’s opera scenes.  Get to this school.

Highlights included Jason Bahr’s orchestra piece Golgatha, Daniel Perttu’s Rhapsody for clarinet, violin and piano and Robert Fleisher’s Ma Mere for solo cello.  A good brass quintet piece can be elusive, but Harry Bulow’s Spectrum is a piece I will be trying to get my hands on if I ever find myself playing in that ensemble.  On Friday night, the OCU Wind Philharmonic gave stunning performances, of which my favorite was Robert Hutchinson’s As Blue Night Descends Upon the World.  My fellow Ohio State alum, Igor Karaca, now at Oklahoma State University presented a wonderfully meditative piece entitled Scallop Shell of Quiet for violin, double bass and piano.  The conference ended with featured composer Cindy McTee’s riveting Einstein’s Dream for strings, percussion and electronic playback.  My father suggested that I write a piece based on Einstein’s life and work, but after hearing Dr. McTee’s piece, it seems unecessary.  Here’s a link to the website for the conference.

The quality of performances throughout the conference was high enough that it showed the way any piece benefits from a really strong group of players.  It was a clear demonstration that new music is alive and well.

I’m now anticipating the fourth performance of my Sevens for four trumpets on Tuesday.  I’ve been in contact with the trumpet professor who is coaching the group, and he seems very positive about the piece.  Hopefully, there will be good news on Tuesday.

I also tried to cram on the Hammerklavier during the last few days of February, but it didn’t work out, so yesterday, I made a decision to spend March on Opus 106.  I did the two short Opus 49 sonatas in one month, so I’m technically ahead of the game, and the piece deserves it, so, on the off chance that you actually want to know what I have to say about Beethoven, you’ll just have to wait.