My duties as artistic director of the Duke New Music Ensemble and as an organizer of the Experimental Music Study Group intersected today at the Ackland Art Gallery at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. [dnme] performed works by Feldman, Brown, and our own Ken Stewart, and we were joined by members of EMSG Meg Orita (pictured below) and Joanna Helms, as well as by Valerie Kuehne and the Wasps Nests. The real highlight though was playing in the midst of painter Hans Hofmann’s colorful mural studies.
I had a great meeting with violinist Jennifer Koh today about my new substantial violin solo Tide Tiding Time. She really helped me to tighten up my notation to best fit my expressive ideas, which was an amazing learning experience.
Big thanks to the Heimat Quartet for another performance of my string quartet Défilé de Féeries at Kent State University in Ohio on Friday, December 4th. The work was programmed by composer Frank Wiley, director of the Kent State University New Music Ensemble, and was performed on the second concert of the KSU New Music Series 2015-2016 season.
I had a fantastic workshop today with Ensemble Amarcord on my new piece “On the Sea” for five male voices. The group provided many insights into the craft of vocal writing and demonstrated great exuberance for new music.
I enjoyed two sympathetic performances of my string quartet Défilé de Féeries (Procession of Enchantments) this past weekend in North Carolina. The Heimat Quartet performed the work at the FRANK Gallery in Chapel Hill on Saturday the 24th, and on the Duke New Music Ensemble’s Art [music] concert in Baldwin Auditorium on Sunday the 25th. The recording of the Baldwin concert is now streaming in the Works/Media section of this site.
My new wind quintet BEACON was premiered today in Kenosha, WI, by the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra’s Woodwind Quintet. It was a great performance in a very picturesque space overlooking Lake Michigan. Big thanks to the Kenosha Community Foundation for the commission and to fresh inc for selecting me for the opportunity.
Had a wonderful performance of my anthem Rough/Smooth on Sunday, July 19th at Emmanuel Church in Boston. Scored for mixed chorus and organ, Rough/Smooth was commissioned by Emmanuel in 2013 with funds from the Lilly Endowment. Pictured here from left to right are church organist Nancy Granert, the composer, and Emmanuel Music’s Artistic Director Ryan Turner.
Excited for a new commission for wind quintet from the Kenosha Community Foundation in association with the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra and the fresh inc festival led by Fifth House Ensemble. The new work is meant to celebrate the third exhibition of Sculpture Walk-Harbor Park in downtown Kenosha, WI. Members of the KSO will premiere the new work at 11am on Saturday September 12, 2015, in the atrium of the Kenosha Public Museum.
I’m at the fresh inc festival at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside, where my newest chamber work Tendrils for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, and bassoon will be premiered on June 21. More information available at http://freshincfestival.com/
Astrolabe was selected as a winner of the Nief Norf Festival’s Call for Scores and will be premiered on June 13 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
