JiB Told Me to Do It

This week has been insane. Completely. Effing. Insane.

In all the best ways.

Too many things happened this week, and I have been far too busy and exhausted to begin to sort it all out. But here are some highlights that I plan/hope to discuss and put into a larger context:

• Charles Wuorinen's talk--mainly in the context of the current context of "entrepreneurship." 
• Brian Ferneyhough's talk, focusing on his interesting ideas on musicality (and some great examples from the festival. Linea KILLED Incipit. Jack killed Exordium. And Irvine Arditti killed Terrain. GODDAMN what a week!)
• Masterclass with Ferneyhough--Beginnings, Endings, and what materials demand
• Masterclass with Yehudi Wyner- musical expression, vocal writing, and "not getting in the way"
• Masterclass with Augusta Read Thomas- Don't half ass your work!
• The experience with Ensemble Signal, premiering a piece no one really expects in a festival like this, and the reaction to this unexpected piece.
• The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly--Beautiful Structures, Rough Performances, and WTF was That?!?
• JiB in context of the college experience--How a hardcore festival/workshops like June in Buffalo may one of the greatest things possible. Not for the performance, and the resume padding, but for all the RIGHT reasons.

These topics may all be discussed. Sometimes they'll get shoved together, more than one in a post. Maybe they'll span more than one post. I have no idea at this point.

But this process will be mostly for my own benefit. It's about decompressing all the information that's been shoved into my poor little brain. But hopefully more people will get a great deal out of it.

Ya know the worst part? I don't really have time to write these or decompress. On Saturday, I leave for Lisbon, Portugal, and Electroacoustic Musical Studies Conference 2013. So, instead of really being able to reflect, I'll be preparing for round 2, this time all EA instead of acoustic.

Shift gears, be prepared for anything

And always, ALWAYS be prepared to sing. Because ya never know when you'll be singing all the lines from your own piece, or as a great singer found out, auditioning for some opera and/or ensemble solo work.