NEWSFLASH
5/12/10.
Just finished judging the Meet The Composer commissions. A heck
of a lot of work (!), but actually a joy to listen to so much great
music by so many talented and devoted composers. Listened to 214 pieces
(many in video format w/dance or multimedia) in two days. 5/2/10.
Wonderful performance by newEar Ensemble last night. What pleasure to
work with them! Also had a great time giving an interactive
presentation to students at the Kansas City Art Institute on Friday
(4/30). 3/22/10.
Received a 'review' from a trusted source that the performance of
Sudden Music by soprano Marie
Te Hapuku (who sings with The Met) at the LDS Lincoln Center
Building was absolutely stunning! Wish I could have been there!
Going to Boston next week to hear pianist Biljana Milovanovic and
soprano Rachelle Schmiege perform it. 11/22/09. C4 did a great job performing Non avra ma pieta'
in New York last night. Marvelous choir, and a joy to work with.
Also just found out that I was a Finalist for the 2010 Look &
Listen Festival Prize...close, but no cigar. 11/20/09. Wrapped
up a fantastic week as a Guest Composer at the ISU Contemporary Music
Festival. Gave a lecture/presentation, a roundtable session with
Steve Reich, and a pre-concert talk with Kirk Trevor (conductor of the
Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra). Processione
di lacrime went very well, and the ICO did a great job with the
world premiere of the orchestral version of the Requiem. 11/15/09.
My Requiem was the Winner of the First Annual newEar Composition
Competition. newEar is a superb contemporary music ensemble in
Kansas City, and they'll be performing the piece in the spring. 10/2/09.
Found
out I am a Co-Winner of the American Composers Forum-LA Composition
Competition for my piece Yellow. The piece will be performed in
LA on 11/12 by Ensemble Green. 9/1/09. Just
found out that I won First Prize in the 2009 Indianapolis Chamber
Orchestra Composition Competition. The ICO will be premiering my
Requiem (finally!) at the 43rd Contemporary Music Festival on November
19th, and I'll be a Guest Composer at the Festival along with Steve
Reich. They will also be performing Processione di lacrime
on the Festival, as it was a winner of the "Music Now" Composition
Competition. Both competitions are blind juried (i.e. scores are
submitted anonymously), and judged by completely independent panels.
There were something like 130 entries for the "Music Now"
contest. They were very surprised, and told me that in the 43
year history of the festival, nobody has ever won both competitions!
Needless to say I am very humbled and honored. 7/31/09. My
sax quartet OK-OK
was one of six works (out of hundreds of submissions) selected for
submission to the ISCM World Music Days in Australia next spring.
Crossing fingers it will be chosen. Also just heard from a
marimbist in Argentina that he will be performing Catherine's Wheel soon.soo 7/16/09. It's
been a good week: I just heard from Subito Music that they've picked me
up as a composer. More details pending. 7/14/09. Was
just informed that I've been elected as a member of the American
Composers Alliance (which only accepts 1-2 new members per year). 7/11/09. I've
been nominated for the Pi Kappa Lambda National Commission, and
advanced to the next stage. 6/22/09.
Good news, bad news (but mostly good!): The premiere of my song cycle Sudden
Music was
pushed from August back to sometime in the fall (probably November),
but the good news is that MAG is now planning to use singers from The
Met. How cool would that be? 6/19/09.
I'll be going to Aspen this summer! I'm a Guest Composer at the Aspen
Music School, a presenter at the Aspen Composers' Conference, and will
have the Dinosaur Annex commissioned piece (blur)
for clarinet & basset horn performed at the Aspen Institute, with
the premiere of a video by
renowned artist Rita Blitt. SUPER excited. 1/1/09.
Star
Chamber for solo violin was released on a CD of
contemporary chamber music called Metamorphosis on
the Beauport Classical label. 11/20/08.
Catherine's
Wheel and B(ee) Movie were just picked
up for publication by Marimba Productions, the premier publisher for
marimba repertoire. 11/18/08.
Received notice today that I was awarded Honorable Mention in the
Boston Choral Ensemble's 2009 Composition Competition. 10/20/08.
Just got a pretty fab 3/4-page featured review in Gramophone Magazine
(annual
Awards Issue, Oct. 2008). Read it here. 9/27/08. Sixth
Species is now available for digital download on iTunes
and eMusic.com. 8/16/08.
My CD Sixth Species is finally
released on Albany (TROY1044). It is available direct from Albany,
or from Amazon, CDUniverse,
Barnes & Noble.com, and many other stores (even Target.com!). 6/08.
Exciting news: Just received a commission to write a new work for the
acclaimed Boston new music ensemble Dinosaur Annex, for spring 2009!!
I'm thrilled, as Dinosaur Annex is not only one of the top new music
ensembles, but SUPER COOL people, too! www.dinosaurannex.org 6/08.
Just found out that my sax quartet OK-OK was performed by TAWA
Quartet at the 18th International Jazz Festival in Lima, Peru.
Cool.