December 2011
1 post
August 2011
1 post
March 2011
1 post
February 2011
2 posts
collab
for the last few days i’ve been camped out at a cabin in gorgeous snow-covered barnard, vermont with my friend and fellow composer philip white. we’re spending our nights cooking steak and drinking bourbon — but our days are spent collaborating on a new piece we are writing and performing together. it’s been totally invigorating. i’ve never been a part of such a...
August 2010
3 posts
BARBARA BUSH: 9.5.05
a new film from SATAN’S PEARL HORSES
from Katrina Ballads
performed by Abby Fischer
Interlude 1 from Katrina BalladsĀ
film by Bill MorrisonĀ
Katrina Ballads CD Release Performance - August 24th at (le) Poisson Rouge
June 2010
3 posts
Jacob Cooper’s COMMENCER UNE AUTRE MORT.
i love it.
May 2010
4 posts
is it dirty
I’m up in Albany all week, and if anyone has any suggestions about something to do that is not eating bar food and drinking a lot of beer - which i think i’ve mastered - I’d be happy to hear them. Friday’s concert with The Dogs of Desire (a chamber ensemble from the Albany Symphony) will feature the premiere on my piece Is it dirty, along with new music by Todd Reynolds,...
Volti performs this weekend
i’ve been out here in beautiful San Francisco all week, running along the ocean, working/procrastinating in many fine coffeeshops, considering the pluses (always smells good) and minuses (fog) of living here… and my piece PRIVILEGE will be premiered tonight by the vocal ensemble Volti.
Volti is the kind of choir i always hoped existed but until now had never encountered. a group of...
vigeland's influence
This tuesday, Red Light New Music will present a concert at Symphony Space - Nils Vigeland at 60. i’m really looking forward to this show, partially because it will feel good to tributize a teacher that means a lot to a lot of people, but also because it will be a really fitting 5th anniversary celebration for Red Light.
Nils Vigeland is a legend at MSM; an impassioned advocated of...
January 2010
2 posts
December 2009
1 post
October 2009
2 posts
interview in CompositionToday →
just had a new interview posted on this website Composition Today. answering with the old political music question, always a good time, always a good time…
from the margins, this, unmentioned
thursday, friday and saturday i’m conducting FROM THE MARGINS, THIS, UNMENTIONED - a ballet composed by my good friend Bryan Senti. the brilliant choreographer Bronwen MacArthur has put crafted some sultry and extremely athletic moves with her team of dancers, and some sick video installation from Kohta Asakura, Jimmy Sakai and Nikolai Antonie.
we have had some long and rewarding rehearsals...
September 2009
9 posts
wish every weekend could be a carlsbad weekend
i just got to Southern California for a weekend at the Carlsbad Music Festival. I was warmly greeted by Matt McBane, the festival’s creator and artistic director, who within five minutes of my arrival had picked for me, from his very own orchard, what must be the most delicious and succulent fig i have ever had the privilege to taste. really nice.
the festival kicked off last night with a...
indulged in a decadent visit to the pancake...
Katrina Ballads won the Gaudeamus Prize last night!
this announcement, coming at the end of a nearly 3-hour orchestral concert, was not only a massive honor, but also came with some pretty overwhelming shock, causing me to, immediately after receiving the news, lumber around the crowded lobby in uncontrolled spasmic jolts. after no more than three minutes of this i managed to knock a few full...
first rehearsal at Gaudeamus
i arrived in Amsterdam on monday, and will be here until sunday, participating in the 2009 Gaudeamus Festival. there are 14 of us composers under 30 competing for the top prize, but along with all our nominated works is lots of music from all over the world. there are 3 concerts a day - and, this being holland, the general public seems to give a shit! (or, at least there have been sizable...
August 2009
3 posts
katrina ballads broadcast on WRIU tomorrow →
if you get a chance, listen in to a broadcast of Katrina Ballads, in full, tomorrow at 11am. based out of providence, justin brierley has been playing a lot of young composers’ stuff on his show “music for internets” up at WRIU.
the nine eyes →
Timberbrit story on All Things Considered →
mellissa and i are interviewed on this story from NPR’s All Things Considered, which aired today. the link also has great pictures of Mel looking hot at a photo shoot.
July 2009
1 post
June 2009
2 posts
ethan and tim at the stone
my friend taylor always inadvertently refers to the musicians he loves by their first names. i love that - it’s like once he feels where they’re coming from, that’s an intimate enough experience to be on a first-name basis.
i went with nathan and dan vezza (thankfully back from germany for a few months) to see ethan iverson and tim berne at the stone tonight. of course...
hard work, worth it
In the midst of our first tour, Your Bad Self just played a show at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art in Columbia. we had a full house and really supportive audience - and whoa, we totally need a manager. or at least a roadie. (many many public props to nathan and ron for lugging all their gear everywhere and then setting it up.) every time i think i’m not a logistical mess i realize that...
May 2009
2 posts
Red Light at Kennedy Center tonight
first, it must be noted that i am making this post from a bus with free wifi! ladies and gentlemen, a BUS. with WIRELESS INTERNET. woot.
also i should say that i have completed the MMA program and am officially done with classes for the rest of my life.
also i will mention that i am on a bus because i have just arrived in washington, DC because tonight i will be conducting the Red Light Ensemble...
April 2009
2 posts
The Third Coast (is actually freezing even though...
i’m home! living it up in chicago, and true to form it’s 31 degrees and raining/snowing and the wind is blowing my face off - but it feels right somehow. i treated myself to a nice car and have been cruising around hanging with my old friends, meeting new babies, catching up with the moms, etc… what brings me to the chi? it’s THIRD COAST PERCUSSION. colleague and friend...
Times review of last night's MATA Festival concert →
I had a great time at this show, and The Knights played quite impressively. And here’s a really nice article by Allan Kozinn….
March 2009
2 posts
MATA Festival
I’m happy to say The Knights will perform my piece CORDAVI AND FIG tonight - Tuesday, March 31 - at Le Poisson Rouge as part of the MATA Festival. Tickets are $15 / $10 for students and seniors / I’ll be coming in from New Haven for the night and I hope to see you there!
Here’s some audio from the last performance of Cordavi and Fig (I’m really happy how this recording...
February 2009
4 posts
"I will always stand on the side of the egg." →
tip of the hat to NKo
Oh, Indie Rock... you're just so... Indie.
all weekend I’ve been mulling over Nico Muhly’s extremely interesting response to an interview with John Adams that appeared in Newsweek last week. essentially, when the reporter offers nico and caleb burhans as examples of composers who broaden audience appreciation of classical music, adams lets loose this bomb about how “a lot” people in that generation are...
January 2009
2 posts
percussionists endure
the last few months have been difficult in that i have been consumed with school obligations - spending lots of time in new haven but finding little to no time for composing; missing new york and everyone in it. this is a trade-off i knew would happen, as the strange degree program i’m enrolled in promises that all academic obligations toward a DMA be completed in just one year. this of...
punditry →
December 2008
4 posts
interview →
here’s an interview just posted on InDigest Magazine, mostly re: Katrina Ballads