In the past month, I've had two theatrical works premiered to packed houses. The Story, Part 1: Alec and Grugh, ran during InTENsity 2.0, produced by Frank Higgins and Tony Bernal. Four of the five nights were sold out (and the other night had 2 open seats. So close!).
And this past Thursday and Friday, Till Coffee Do Us Part, ran. The evening, Rites of Being, was produced by Hunter Long and Black House Collective, and created in collaboration with Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance. Alison Heryer designed most everything, and Lisa Cordes gave her expert talents as the stage director of all six operas.
There was also some crazy guy that started voguing toward the end of Friday night...He was up on a podium and waved his arms like a damn fool. He did it because whenever he moved his arms, he heard music...and he likes music.
Yes, I was the foolish man.
Did anyone laugh at my title? It's a pun. Get it...Two shows? Two much theater?
These are the jokes people.
And what an experience all this was. I'm many years removed from my theater days. I did the community theater bit for...well, a hella long time. I played in some pits, and did a minor acting role for in undergrad. Worked for a production company, but didn't do much theater work while out East...Until Cake went up, and I was suddenly tossed back into theater.
Then four years pass, and I'm tossed back in again. People always seem amazed to know that I've been on stage since...8? 9? Can't remember...Anyway, a long freakin' time. My first credit as a lighting tech was when I was 12 (designed half the show. Poorly, i might add...but it got done!). My first directing credit was a children's production when I was in HS. I followed that up with directing Pippin, then directing 2 chamber operas for RTB's inaugural Opera Shorts program. I also waved my arms around then, leading several rehearsals when our conductor wasn't around.
Should have taken that "assistant conductor" credit. But I was already "Tech Director, Stage Director, Composer."
Anyway...Yeah, I've done a lot of theater...
But I've never had two shows run so close together. I've never had to flit from a rehearsal of one show to a performance of another. I've never had a show I've solely written the words to on stage. Cake was a collaboration with Eileen Wiedbrauk. Her story, and we sent the libretto back and forth (with a lot of "I have no idea what I'm doing..." "I don't know either..." "Hm, well...it's probably fine.").
So, my words, on stage. That was an interesting experience. The actors never stopped surprising me--in both shows, I laughed several times...which is hella awkward as you're prepping a to cue in the pit, and the actor does something so ridiculous you HAVE to laugh.
There's nothing in this world more magical than live theater. I know, I'm a musician, I should say "there's nothing more magical than a symphony," or something like that. But I'd be lying. There's something about the human voice, about seeing humans interact and draw you into the performance. There's something much more concrete. Music is abstract. Even when moving into more concrete worlds (using obvious quotation that will have cultural contexts, using real world sounds, etc.), music is always a step removed from the concrete image due to what's around it. (Does thunder have the same meaning when surrounded by rain, as it does when it's surrounded by gunfire without rain? a discussion for another time.)
But theater captures us in a snapshot of time. We see events unfold in front of us, and we are either drawn in, or kept at arms length as observers to judge the action (Oh Brecht...). I love me some Brecht, and when he's at his best, he's tricked himself and he's brought you into at least one character, while keeping the problem at arms length (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny is the perfect example to me).
I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. It's not what I do professionally. I'm no actor. My directing is middling, at best. Same goes with my design. It's better for the world if I never sing again. And while I've enjoyed writing words, and think I'm pretty good at it, I'm best at writing music.
So, I'll continue to do that, and do it well. And keep your eyes open for opera number 3!
There's never too much theater in this world.
Showing posts with label KcEMA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KcEMA. Show all posts
5/18/13
4/25/13
What REALLY happened to opera?
There's a list going around from Buzzfeed called "What Happened to Opera?"
It's a post that really focuses on 1 thing- Hey, look at how the costumes and sets of opera have changed! And how hot all the singers look! Here's Renee Fleming singing Strauss! She's awesome!
And Anna Letrebko doing Lehar! Look at that beautiful gown! AND THE VOICE!
Let's not forget Diana Danrau as Queen of the Night! Holy Crap, how can she even sing in that outfit!
The post goes on through many notables; Joyce DiDonato, Jonas Kaufmann, Juan Diego Florez, Dolora Zajick, and so forth.
It's great that a site like Buzzfeed put together a list of great opera singers doing (somewhat) modern takes on classic songs.
But it does beg the question "WHAT HAPPENED TO OPERA?!?"
I don't mean this in a "oh, the by-gone days of it's greatness are gone," but in the "what the hell does this actually mean about opera?" Does it mean that opera is only about the singers? Look at all these fabulous singers!
Or is it about the sets and costumes? This is cutting edge stuff people!
Ya know what I think this post says?
It says "We can keep finding new ways to do the same song that's been out since 1791!" Sorry Diana Danrau, you nailed it, but GIVE IT A REST!
You can't put a list together of "What Happened to Opera" without even addressing the music! The examples are all classic rep--not one really adventurous aria on the whole page. Not one work by a living composer even!
It's like they're saying "No one WRITES opera, so we have to come up with new ways to do the same thing you've seen a million times before!"
So, here's MY LIST of "What Happened to Opera?" Instead of focusing on amazing singers (mostly very attractive ones at that), and fancy sets, I'm going to look at fantastic singers singing some modern repertoire! Because, at its heart, opera IS music. If you're going to have a conversation about how it's changed, and not at least toss in some MUSIC to show that, then you've failed miserably.
1) OPERA IS IN ENGLISH!!!
I could choose a thousand thousand operas for this, but I'll go with a man that made English language opera what it is today: hopefully the only dead guy on the list, Benjamin Britten!
And from his rep a million choices. But why not show a scene from the BBC movie version of his opera Turn of the Screw, adapted from the novel by Henry James
2) Opera changes with the musical times!
Oh man...this is a book in and of itself. but why not show some fun examples?
Let's start with a German guy that even predates Britten...But his style was ahead of its time. Wozzeck, by Alban Berg
Not my favourite scene, but Wozzeck is slim pickings. The story is pretty amazing.
Oh, not a fan of modernism eh? No problem, there's plenty of styles to choose from!
Minimalism more your thing? Let's take a cue from the King of Minimalism:
Love Duet from Ahkenaten by Phillip Glass. Sorry all, just music on this one!
Pardon the intonation in the trombone. hard line to keep going. and, no, that wasn't me. This recording easily predates my trombone days.
The list goes on and one. Why not grab one more, just for fun? Here's one that's even more contemporary
from L'amour de loin by Kaija Saariaho
So, maybe these aren't your style. I mean, it's still art music after all
3) Opera is a form! It doesn't just mean "classical" music!
alright, let's go straight for the jugular with this one. Anyone seen or heard of
TOMMY by The Who
You'll have to skip a little forward, to about 1:00 in. alright, I'll admit it, I don't much like rock operas. or rock musicals. This coming from a guy that's about to fly to Sweden to study heavy metal...but this should give you a nice tell that it's not just "classical" music
Maybe, like me, you don't always want Wagner, but The Who just don't do it for you. Sometimes, I pull out a different sort of opera. Why not head back to the 30s for another dead guy, but one that set a trend, changed opera and musicals
Summertime, from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin
it's from the movie version. And, sorry, Sidney Poitier didn't sing the part. Wonderful actor, but not the best singer.
So far, there's been way too many dead guys. There's nothing wrong with dead guys, and this was a bit of rally against them, right?
4) OPERA IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!
how about some living composers? Well, since we ended with some jazz inspired music, let's head for some more jazz inspired music.
from Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie
It's pretty romantic, but with some jazz style extended harmonies. I went with a pretty one.
And, yes, if the title caught your eye, it is based on the book. But we'll get to that in a minute...
Why not look at an opera that just had a US premiere not too long ago. At the MET no less!
Ariel's Song from Thomas Ades' The Tempest (based on Shakespeare, of course)
5) OPERA IS RELEVANT TO TODAY!
If you look at all the old operas, they are inexorably linked to their times. Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking is no exception. There are no exceptions: even if the opera is based on a different time, say Ades using Shakespeare, or Bernard Rands telling the story of Vincent Van Gogh, the messages are tied to todays world. And sorry, no copy of Van Gogh on the internet yet--it was just premiered last year! SEE, IT'S STILL HAPPENING!
But enough of that. Let's take one example, just one from the myriad of choices. One of my favourite arias of all time
This is Prophetic from Nixon in China by John Adams
This came out in 1987, about 15 years after Nixon's historic trip...but the questions posed and ideas espoused were very much on people's minds in 1987.
Adams is known for these works: Dr. Atomic and The Death of Klinghoffer just to name two more.
And let's not forget multiculturalism. Why, since we went to China, why not talk about 2 composers of Chinese descent with amazing operas?
The Shadow Haunts Me Wherever I Go from The First Emperor by Tan Dun. Placido Domingo anyone?
And how about a link to a Zhou Long's opera, Madame White Snake. IT WON A PULITZER, AFTER ALL!
Sorry, no vid, but a link to the WGBH Feature!
6) OPERA IS HAPPENING IN YOUR TOWN, ON SCALES THAT EVERYONE CAN ENJOY!
opera doesn't necessarily mean giant sets, 3 hour long shows, or the most lavish costumes you've ever seen. I can name three performances/companies that I'm associated with that make opera with much smaller means...and do an amazing job!
a) Remarkable Theater Brigade. If you're in NYC and follow what happens at Carnegie Hall, their "Opera Shorts" program is probably known to you. I participated in what was, basically, the trial run of this format for RTB back in 2009. And it was a smashing success.
Notice that next year they're featuring Ricky Ian Gordon and a name already mentioned as an amazing performer, Dolora Zajick!
Yep, they're producing NEW WORKS by LIVING COMPOSERS, and bringing them to you in 10-15 minute one acts!
b) Intimate Opera of Indianapolis. You'll notice most of the posts I've made have either been from a coast or Houston (KUDOS TO HOUSTON GRAND OPERA FOR ALL THE WORK PROMOTING LIVING COMPOSERS!). But if you're in the heartland of the US that doesn't mean that exciting opera opportunities aren't there for you!
IOI has a great season running full of amazing works. If you're in Indy, you need to go. Especially in November. I may be in Sweden, but folks in the US will get a chance to hear my first opera, Cake, for the first time in 4+ years! Yes, this is the opera that was on the very first RTB opera shorts, and now IOI has picked it up for its Opera Shots, Black Friday, program!
c) Black House Collective and Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance. Hey, Kansas City, you love the arts. You love new music, jazz, and installations. You even like electronic music! Why not put it together?!?
In a truly adventurous collaboration, Black House and KcEMA teamed up to commission and premiere 6 brand spanking new one act operas! These are all scored for chamber ensembles and electronics! No huge stage, no 50 person chorus, no 50 person pit. Small space, exciting action, and new music!
The program is entitled "Rites of Being" and will run May 16th and 17th. it includes a world premiere of my second one act opera, Till Coffee Do Us Part. Purchase seated tickets in advance (link to brownpapertickets.com event page). Standing room available day of, but don't take your chances.
Alright, this is far from comprehensive. There are tons of amazing operas happening now, all over the world. Why don't we get the comments rolling?
What contemporary operas do you love? What groups are supporting new operas? Let's spread the love and let people see "WHAT HAS REALLY HAPPENED TO OPERA!"
It's a post that really focuses on 1 thing- Hey, look at how the costumes and sets of opera have changed! And how hot all the singers look! Here's Renee Fleming singing Strauss! She's awesome!
And Anna Letrebko doing Lehar! Look at that beautiful gown! AND THE VOICE!
Let's not forget Diana Danrau as Queen of the Night! Holy Crap, how can she even sing in that outfit!
The post goes on through many notables; Joyce DiDonato, Jonas Kaufmann, Juan Diego Florez, Dolora Zajick, and so forth.
It's great that a site like Buzzfeed put together a list of great opera singers doing (somewhat) modern takes on classic songs.
But it does beg the question "WHAT HAPPENED TO OPERA?!?"
I don't mean this in a "oh, the by-gone days of it's greatness are gone," but in the "what the hell does this actually mean about opera?" Does it mean that opera is only about the singers? Look at all these fabulous singers!
Or is it about the sets and costumes? This is cutting edge stuff people!
Ya know what I think this post says?
It says "We can keep finding new ways to do the same song that's been out since 1791!" Sorry Diana Danrau, you nailed it, but GIVE IT A REST!
You can't put a list together of "What Happened to Opera" without even addressing the music! The examples are all classic rep--not one really adventurous aria on the whole page. Not one work by a living composer even!
It's like they're saying "No one WRITES opera, so we have to come up with new ways to do the same thing you've seen a million times before!"
So, here's MY LIST of "What Happened to Opera?" Instead of focusing on amazing singers (mostly very attractive ones at that), and fancy sets, I'm going to look at fantastic singers singing some modern repertoire! Because, at its heart, opera IS music. If you're going to have a conversation about how it's changed, and not at least toss in some MUSIC to show that, then you've failed miserably.
1) OPERA IS IN ENGLISH!!!
I could choose a thousand thousand operas for this, but I'll go with a man that made English language opera what it is today: hopefully the only dead guy on the list, Benjamin Britten!
And from his rep a million choices. But why not show a scene from the BBC movie version of his opera Turn of the Screw, adapted from the novel by Henry James
2) Opera changes with the musical times!
Oh man...this is a book in and of itself. but why not show some fun examples?
Let's start with a German guy that even predates Britten...But his style was ahead of its time. Wozzeck, by Alban Berg
Not my favourite scene, but Wozzeck is slim pickings. The story is pretty amazing.
Oh, not a fan of modernism eh? No problem, there's plenty of styles to choose from!
Minimalism more your thing? Let's take a cue from the King of Minimalism:
Love Duet from Ahkenaten by Phillip Glass. Sorry all, just music on this one!
Pardon the intonation in the trombone. hard line to keep going. and, no, that wasn't me. This recording easily predates my trombone days.
The list goes on and one. Why not grab one more, just for fun? Here's one that's even more contemporary
from L'amour de loin by Kaija Saariaho
So, maybe these aren't your style. I mean, it's still art music after all
3) Opera is a form! It doesn't just mean "classical" music!
alright, let's go straight for the jugular with this one. Anyone seen or heard of
TOMMY by The Who
You'll have to skip a little forward, to about 1:00 in. alright, I'll admit it, I don't much like rock operas. or rock musicals. This coming from a guy that's about to fly to Sweden to study heavy metal...but this should give you a nice tell that it's not just "classical" music
Maybe, like me, you don't always want Wagner, but The Who just don't do it for you. Sometimes, I pull out a different sort of opera. Why not head back to the 30s for another dead guy, but one that set a trend, changed opera and musicals
Summertime, from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin
it's from the movie version. And, sorry, Sidney Poitier didn't sing the part. Wonderful actor, but not the best singer.
So far, there's been way too many dead guys. There's nothing wrong with dead guys, and this was a bit of rally against them, right?
4) OPERA IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!
how about some living composers? Well, since we ended with some jazz inspired music, let's head for some more jazz inspired music.
from Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie
It's pretty romantic, but with some jazz style extended harmonies. I went with a pretty one.
And, yes, if the title caught your eye, it is based on the book. But we'll get to that in a minute...
Why not look at an opera that just had a US premiere not too long ago. At the MET no less!
Ariel's Song from Thomas Ades' The Tempest (based on Shakespeare, of course)
5) OPERA IS RELEVANT TO TODAY!
If you look at all the old operas, they are inexorably linked to their times. Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking is no exception. There are no exceptions: even if the opera is based on a different time, say Ades using Shakespeare, or Bernard Rands telling the story of Vincent Van Gogh, the messages are tied to todays world. And sorry, no copy of Van Gogh on the internet yet--it was just premiered last year! SEE, IT'S STILL HAPPENING!
But enough of that. Let's take one example, just one from the myriad of choices. One of my favourite arias of all time
This is Prophetic from Nixon in China by John Adams
This came out in 1987, about 15 years after Nixon's historic trip...but the questions posed and ideas espoused were very much on people's minds in 1987.
Adams is known for these works: Dr. Atomic and The Death of Klinghoffer just to name two more.
And let's not forget multiculturalism. Why, since we went to China, why not talk about 2 composers of Chinese descent with amazing operas?
The Shadow Haunts Me Wherever I Go from The First Emperor by Tan Dun. Placido Domingo anyone?
And how about a link to a Zhou Long's opera, Madame White Snake. IT WON A PULITZER, AFTER ALL!
Sorry, no vid, but a link to the WGBH Feature!
6) OPERA IS HAPPENING IN YOUR TOWN, ON SCALES THAT EVERYONE CAN ENJOY!
opera doesn't necessarily mean giant sets, 3 hour long shows, or the most lavish costumes you've ever seen. I can name three performances/companies that I'm associated with that make opera with much smaller means...and do an amazing job!
a) Remarkable Theater Brigade. If you're in NYC and follow what happens at Carnegie Hall, their "Opera Shorts" program is probably known to you. I participated in what was, basically, the trial run of this format for RTB back in 2009. And it was a smashing success.
Notice that next year they're featuring Ricky Ian Gordon and a name already mentioned as an amazing performer, Dolora Zajick!
Yep, they're producing NEW WORKS by LIVING COMPOSERS, and bringing them to you in 10-15 minute one acts!
b) Intimate Opera of Indianapolis. You'll notice most of the posts I've made have either been from a coast or Houston (KUDOS TO HOUSTON GRAND OPERA FOR ALL THE WORK PROMOTING LIVING COMPOSERS!). But if you're in the heartland of the US that doesn't mean that exciting opera opportunities aren't there for you!
IOI has a great season running full of amazing works. If you're in Indy, you need to go. Especially in November. I may be in Sweden, but folks in the US will get a chance to hear my first opera, Cake, for the first time in 4+ years! Yes, this is the opera that was on the very first RTB opera shorts, and now IOI has picked it up for its Opera Shots, Black Friday, program!
c) Black House Collective and Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance. Hey, Kansas City, you love the arts. You love new music, jazz, and installations. You even like electronic music! Why not put it together?!?
In a truly adventurous collaboration, Black House and KcEMA teamed up to commission and premiere 6 brand spanking new one act operas! These are all scored for chamber ensembles and electronics! No huge stage, no 50 person chorus, no 50 person pit. Small space, exciting action, and new music!
The program is entitled "Rites of Being" and will run May 16th and 17th. it includes a world premiere of my second one act opera, Till Coffee Do Us Part. Purchase seated tickets in advance (link to brownpapertickets.com event page). Standing room available day of, but don't take your chances.
Alright, this is far from comprehensive. There are tons of amazing operas happening now, all over the world. Why don't we get the comments rolling?
What contemporary operas do you love? What groups are supporting new operas? Let's spread the love and let people see "WHAT HAS REALLY HAPPENED TO OPERA!"
3/17/13
Maybe if I flap hard enough, I'll fly away...
Opera Project 2013 is underway. Had the first full rehearsal today, a read through of all the pieces. And for this project, I volunteered my services as wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man. Every so often, I end up doing this, mainly as a "last resort" or as special favors.
In this case, it was a very simple decision: This project contains 90 minutes worth of music. All are premieres. We have rehearsal at least once a week until the last couple weeks, then we'll add more. Rehearsals run 2.5 hours.
We're lucky we have the great musicians and singers we have. Finding another performer, and a conductor at that, willing to prepare 6 separate scores, run 2.5 hour rehearsals every week for no guaranteed pay...rough to say that least. Yes, we are planning on paying everyone involved but, at best, it'll probably be a token.
So, I took the role. We had another trombone player on board anyway, so I was a bit redundant. I'm definitely still finding my footing with the pieces; i didn't get hard copies of some of them until the first instrumental read Friday. I spent some time on them yesterday, but not as much as I should have. Now, I've got a week to prep like a mad man. One score is about three quarters marked up. The others will be marked all the hell this week...though I'll be changing the markings as I get new scores each time, I'm sure.
And I'll be fighting myself. It's a fair sized ensemble: 2 violins, 2 cellos, tenor sax, bari sax/bass clarinet, clarinet, trombone, piano, and the singers (ranging from 1-4 at a time). Yeah, I've been in front of orchestras and bands, but that was long ago...and they can run themselves surprisingly well. And I've done some chamber stuff, but even that was, what...almost 2 years ago? right? And opera? I only filled in as a conductor back in '09. and that was in '09.
My arm is sore from flapping. My eyes felt like they hadn't blinked in 2.5 hours, and have only started to really feel better. And my mind is shot beyond compare.
The concentration. I forgot about the level of concentration. The mind is not working at the level it used to. Thankfully, I've learned to prep a bit better.
Onwards and upwards. And, hey, it's 6 more conducting credits. Should I be listing those too? Damnit...
BTW, this Black House Collective/Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance collaboration is gonna kick some major ass. It's gonna be the opera event of the year in KC, which is saying something since there have already been like 3 premieres this year!
In this case, it was a very simple decision: This project contains 90 minutes worth of music. All are premieres. We have rehearsal at least once a week until the last couple weeks, then we'll add more. Rehearsals run 2.5 hours.
We're lucky we have the great musicians and singers we have. Finding another performer, and a conductor at that, willing to prepare 6 separate scores, run 2.5 hour rehearsals every week for no guaranteed pay...rough to say that least. Yes, we are planning on paying everyone involved but, at best, it'll probably be a token.
So, I took the role. We had another trombone player on board anyway, so I was a bit redundant. I'm definitely still finding my footing with the pieces; i didn't get hard copies of some of them until the first instrumental read Friday. I spent some time on them yesterday, but not as much as I should have. Now, I've got a week to prep like a mad man. One score is about three quarters marked up. The others will be marked all the hell this week...though I'll be changing the markings as I get new scores each time, I'm sure.
And I'll be fighting myself. It's a fair sized ensemble: 2 violins, 2 cellos, tenor sax, bari sax/bass clarinet, clarinet, trombone, piano, and the singers (ranging from 1-4 at a time). Yeah, I've been in front of orchestras and bands, but that was long ago...and they can run themselves surprisingly well. And I've done some chamber stuff, but even that was, what...almost 2 years ago? right? And opera? I only filled in as a conductor back in '09. and that was in '09.
My arm is sore from flapping. My eyes felt like they hadn't blinked in 2.5 hours, and have only started to really feel better. And my mind is shot beyond compare.
The concentration. I forgot about the level of concentration. The mind is not working at the level it used to. Thankfully, I've learned to prep a bit better.
Onwards and upwards. And, hey, it's 6 more conducting credits. Should I be listing those too? Damnit...
BTW, this Black House Collective/Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance collaboration is gonna kick some major ass. It's gonna be the opera event of the year in KC, which is saying something since there have already been like 3 premieres this year!
12/1/12
Event 4- I'm kinda of a regular
Following the amazing eighth blackbird concert on Thursday (Nov 8th, 2012), I had two more engagements. I was a last minute add to the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance program Perceptions/Reality. As always I welcomed a chance to work with my friends at KcEMA. Now that I am less involved, it was nice; just walk in, sound check, and eat some wonderful Mexican food. The venue, La Esquina, is in the Crossroads district and on Southwest Boulevard by La Esquina is an abundance of fantastic Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants. My piece I Do Good at Grammar was performed by the esteemed Brad Van Wick. Brad isn't known as a vocalist, but the piece isn't exactly vocally demanding. On the contrary, it's much more about acting.
The performance was good, but not well attended. We were up against eighth blackbirds solo show at UMKC, so a fair bit of our regular crowd was gone. While the crowd was small, they were responsive, and were treated to the show being free. Too bad there wasn't a larger crowd, as the show was fantastic.
While the night was full of great music and great performances, including works by a new ensemble of old friends, The Ensemble of Irreproducible Outcomes, with David D. McIntire (head-hog at irritablehedgehog ), Brian Padavic, and Ryan Oldham; Teri Quinn and Eli Hougland, two former students of mine (Teri even premiered a piece started in my class. woo!); and great playing by Eric Honour. But, for me, the real winner was Joseph Post.
Post comes to KcEMA by way of the "popular" scene. And boy was it a breath of fresh air. Now, I love EA concert. Even more so when different mediums can be incorporated- the night had fixed media, video, interactive, and instrument plus fixed. And the styles were somewhat varied. But the world of house, dance, trance, dub, etc are never really represented. Alluded to, perhaps, but not represented.
Post brought that. He improvised over a set form, using software (i neglected to ask which. woops) running into a custom analog synth. Post pieced it together from synthesizers.com, and did a great job putting together a setup that creates great sounds for his music.
Things are faded a bit from my mind, but I was so freakin' happy to have something with a solid beat, nice timbres, and an eclectic form. So many nods to so many different styles of "popular" electronic music, from drumstep to ambient. Great to see him at a concert that, dare I say, can get a little too serious...of course, that's one reason I Do Good at Grammar exists. heh
And Post brought friends, that heard new music. And he heard the music, and enjoyed the night. So, hopefully, there can be more crossover between our not really different, but somehow "exclusive" clubs.
And then I had to go to a high roller party hosted by the Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music. Not my usual scene, but everyone was nice, had a couple good conversations, then quietly snuck out. It was nice to toast off the week with a few glasses of champagne.
The performance was good, but not well attended. We were up against eighth blackbirds solo show at UMKC, so a fair bit of our regular crowd was gone. While the crowd was small, they were responsive, and were treated to the show being free. Too bad there wasn't a larger crowd, as the show was fantastic.
While the night was full of great music and great performances, including works by a new ensemble of old friends, The Ensemble of Irreproducible Outcomes, with David D. McIntire (head-hog at irritablehedgehog ), Brian Padavic, and Ryan Oldham; Teri Quinn and Eli Hougland, two former students of mine (Teri even premiered a piece started in my class. woo!); and great playing by Eric Honour. But, for me, the real winner was Joseph Post.
Post comes to KcEMA by way of the "popular" scene. And boy was it a breath of fresh air. Now, I love EA concert. Even more so when different mediums can be incorporated- the night had fixed media, video, interactive, and instrument plus fixed. And the styles were somewhat varied. But the world of house, dance, trance, dub, etc are never really represented. Alluded to, perhaps, but not represented.
Post brought that. He improvised over a set form, using software (i neglected to ask which. woops) running into a custom analog synth. Post pieced it together from synthesizers.com, and did a great job putting together a setup that creates great sounds for his music.
Things are faded a bit from my mind, but I was so freakin' happy to have something with a solid beat, nice timbres, and an eclectic form. So many nods to so many different styles of "popular" electronic music, from drumstep to ambient. Great to see him at a concert that, dare I say, can get a little too serious...of course, that's one reason I Do Good at Grammar exists. heh
And Post brought friends, that heard new music. And he heard the music, and enjoyed the night. So, hopefully, there can be more crossover between our not really different, but somehow "exclusive" clubs.
And then I had to go to a high roller party hosted by the Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music. Not my usual scene, but everyone was nice, had a couple good conversations, then quietly snuck out. It was nice to toast off the week with a few glasses of champagne.
11/16/12
What a couple months...
I disappeared for a while. For good reasons, I promise. It's been a crazy month...well, a bit over a month. The basic break down
1) Doctoral Comprehensive Exam- This ate 2 weeks of my life in early October, plus a few weeks prior studying
2) Fulbright application- Turned this puppy in DURING my comps. Yep, I finished my 48 hour essay, had a week of studying for my comprehensive listening test (meaning any piece from any time period, drop the needle style) ahead of me...and what did I do instead? Spent hours almost every night editing and rewriting a Fulbright proposal.
3) eight blackbird side-by-side concert- I organized this bad boy: Found the space, took all the submissions and organized sending them out, did initial judging of each selection (21 entries, done in one night), found the space, negotiated price of space and dealt with logistics, attended rehearsals, helped show 8bb around to all their various coachings (man, their schedule was NUTS!), loaded all the equipment and moved it to the space in a 24' box truck, set it up, tore it down, and then drank...This was a huge project that took lots of help from faculty and students (Shout-out to Joseph Kern for all his work with Musica Nova!)
Won't be doing that again for quite some time!
4) concert with KcEMA at La Esquina, Perceptions and Realities...this was an "easy" one
5) Installed an interactive installation designed with Bobby Zokaites called "The Machine the Sneetches Built," ran the opening, and had to set-up all the tech each morning, then chilled in the gallery in case anyone had questions. This was another huge opportunity thanks to ArtSounds, UMKC Conservatory, UMKC Community Music and Dance Academy, Kansas City Art Institute, and Charlotte Street. It was a resounding success in the community, especially on opening night! There will be photos and video up soon, hopefully.
So, I've been busy. All of these things deserve their own blogposts, and I think I'll get on that. Thanksgiving break starts tonight after we tear down The Machine, so maybe I'll write a bunch and time the posts, or something fancy like that. I mean, that can't be any harder than dealing with WiiMotes
1) Doctoral Comprehensive Exam- This ate 2 weeks of my life in early October, plus a few weeks prior studying
2) Fulbright application- Turned this puppy in DURING my comps. Yep, I finished my 48 hour essay, had a week of studying for my comprehensive listening test (meaning any piece from any time period, drop the needle style) ahead of me...and what did I do instead? Spent hours almost every night editing and rewriting a Fulbright proposal.
3) eight blackbird side-by-side concert- I organized this bad boy: Found the space, took all the submissions and organized sending them out, did initial judging of each selection (21 entries, done in one night), found the space, negotiated price of space and dealt with logistics, attended rehearsals, helped show 8bb around to all their various coachings (man, their schedule was NUTS!), loaded all the equipment and moved it to the space in a 24' box truck, set it up, tore it down, and then drank...This was a huge project that took lots of help from faculty and students (Shout-out to Joseph Kern for all his work with Musica Nova!)
Won't be doing that again for quite some time!
4) concert with KcEMA at La Esquina, Perceptions and Realities...this was an "easy" one
5) Installed an interactive installation designed with Bobby Zokaites called "The Machine the Sneetches Built," ran the opening, and had to set-up all the tech each morning, then chilled in the gallery in case anyone had questions. This was another huge opportunity thanks to ArtSounds, UMKC Conservatory, UMKC Community Music and Dance Academy, Kansas City Art Institute, and Charlotte Street. It was a resounding success in the community, especially on opening night! There will be photos and video up soon, hopefully.
So, I've been busy. All of these things deserve their own blogposts, and I think I'll get on that. Thanksgiving break starts tonight after we tear down The Machine, so maybe I'll write a bunch and time the posts, or something fancy like that. I mean, that can't be any harder than dealing with WiiMotes
2/17/11
Holy Wild Performances, Batman!
For the first time in my "composerly" career, i have performances lined up.
Finally feeling all that hard work paying off!
And not performances where i'm pulling everything together to do at an "end of the year" concert by the comp department for the comp department. Nope...all three are about one step up :)
I'm still nailing down all the specific specifics, but the piece is accepted, so if all goes well, i'll have 3 performances over 2 months. with real groups.
groups i don't have to fully form myself. performers who can rehearse without me.
and, in other news, i'm playing with UMKC's RAT ensemble as a part of the Zerospace Conference on Friday night, working on KcEMA's "Back to the Source Code" concert at La Esquina, Saturday, and generally working myself into a frenzy.
Finally feeling all that hard work paying off!
2/6/10
hfiihefaoh
Helped with KcEMA's concert tonight. It was a good experience. there was some really cool stuff there. I like Paul Rudy's piece the best. yeah, a bit biased, but it was the most well done piece, in my estimation.
One of the things i've noticed is people get stuck on certain things...like "this video all about going through these 6 filters and using still images taken from video..." ok, cool...not for an hour plus. that's boring. I get it. 20 minutes, that's fine. 40 minutes, starting to hurt, an HOUR, that's a no go. the guys in KcEMA are smart though, did excerpts of it and split it up with another video. very good planning on that one
In other news, i might have thrown out the entire third movement. maybe. It's just not jiving. I'm reaching an impasse, i think...a moment of "this is what i want to do with it...but it sounds like shit." So, i shall spend the weekend really focusing and working hard, getting it sorted out. I want 2 movements done by wednesday. I think it's doable. there is time
and i need to go buy an antenna for my tv, so maybe i can watch this superbowl thing. maybe. or i'll just have a friend text me results. lol. i am NOT going a bar, that's for damn sure. maybe someone is throwing a superbowl party in town. though, the guys i'm hanging with don't seem to be sports fans. lol. it hasn't come up in conversation much though. i could be entirely wrong and there's a giant party i could go to. lol
2/5/10
tired
So...i was going to go to bed early tonight. guess that failed.
Gonna go to the KcEMA concert tomorrow night. pretty excited. maybe i will head up toward downtown to check out first friday festivities as well.
Oh, yeah, this is a music blog...Um...I like music?
Pedagogy of Composition continues to rock my face off. soon, i shall have a "mentee" a younger college student in need of guidance...or something. lol. that will be good.
I'm too tired to discuss all the wonders of Ped of Comp tonight. we played a game called "Methodologies Survivor's Island." It was fun. i didn't win, which made me sad, because i thought i had the best 2. lol.
i have things on my mind...that aren't about music at the moment. This job i'm creating for myself in town...i dunno...it could be cool, or it could kill me. And possibly working out some sort of teaching gig? maybe...i dunno...
I really like it here so far. KC kinda rocks...but...i dunno...an uneasiness has fallen over me tonight. i think i just want too much out of life...or maybe i'm terrified of money. quite likely. yep....
it's time to sleep. shit, it's 1am here...i have class in the morning. bad idea...
g'night
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