Archives 2013-2015
Posted on June 5, 2017
February 6, 2015
My apologies for the lengthy interval since my last post!
Personal News: In April, Johanna and I purchased a house here in Charleston! We are very glad to be in our own place once again. AND we are very excited to be expecting our second child in June of this year!
I have a piece on CD!
My work, in memoriam, for solo piano was recorded by Karolina Rojahn of the Boston Conservatory, and is available as of February 10 on Navona Records! It will be distributed by Naxos, so you can purchase a digital or CD copy on Amazon, iTunes, and other fine music distribution — digital or physical — websites and stores! You can compare it to Rick Ratliff’s excellent performance of it right here on the Listen page!
Relatedly: in December 2013, Arcomis in Wales accepted and published both my Psalm 119:41-48 for solo trumpet and Psalm 119:41-48 for solo horn. You can buy and download either score at the following link:
http://www.arcomis.com/catalogue/composer/id/392
Upcoming Performances!
My Psalm 119: 41-48, will performed at the Southeastern Composers League Forum at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC, February 26-28!
In November of 2013, my colleague and immensely talented soprano, Jennifer Luiken, commissioned me to write her a song for voice, ‘cello, and piano. The resulting work, Nature, with text by George Herbert, will be premiered in Charleston sometime in the upcoming year.
Also, two other colleagues, Myungsook Stoudenmire and Janet Elshazly, asked me to write them a two-piano piece. That work, Chanson: Argent et Gris, will be premiered by them sometime in the coming future!
Details on those works will be forthcoming!
Many performances have taken place since I last wrote!
I had an Irish premiere! On January 25, my Three Haiku, for flute, Bb clarinet, violin and ‘cello, was performed by the Concorde Ensemble on their “Up Close with Music” Concert at the RHA Gallery in Dublin! It was a winning work in the Concorde Ensemble 2014 Call for Scores.
On January 11, 2015, at Jan Hus Presbyterian Church in New York City, the New Thread Saxophone Quartet performed my piece, Shigurekana — a winner in the Vox Novus 15 Minutes of Fame Call for Scores for Saxophone Quartet.
My Seven Haiku for wind quintet was given its European premiere at the 21st London New Wind Festival on November 3, 2014. It was a winning work in the 2014 London New Wind Festival Call for Scores.
I had a Swiss premiere! On June 6, 2014 at the Forum Wallis Festival in Leuk, Switzerland, the dissonArt ensemble reprised their Collaborative Miniature Concert (from Greece last October), which included my piece ankáthi (flute, ‘cello, ‘bass)!
the flattery of fire was selected as one of three winners in the BEEP (Boyer Electroacoustic Ensemble Project) call for scores and performed at Temple University in Philadelphia on April 28, 2014. I was totally unaware the work had been selected, so Johanna and I were quite unhappy we didn’t have time to arrange a trip to hear the performance, but we eagerly anticipate the recording. The ensemble director, Adam Vidiksis, related that the performers were prepared to do an excellent job!
In March 2014, I was commissioned to write a new work for the April 18th Good Friday Service at The Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul here in Charleston. The resulting piece for two flutes, violin, and viola consisted of Paschal Prelude performed at the beginning of the service (c.3 minutes), but then a lengthy, reflective meditation, Paschal, to conclude the service while people are receiving a blessing, and sitting and/or leaving, the latter lasting 17 minutes! The performers were Yuriy Bekker, principal violinist of the Charleston Symphony and his wife, Jenny, on flute, as well as Jason Fry, flute, and my lovely wife, Johanna, playing viola. The performance went excellently and the piece was very well received!
Patina, for solo glockenspiel was a winning work in the 2014 Society of Composers National Conference Call for Scores and was performed at Ball State University in Indiana on March 21. The performer, Ryan Bischoff, did a great job! He also performed it earlier that week in a Recital Hour at Ball State on March 17!
My work, the flattery of fire, was performed at the Southeastern Composers League Forum on February 22 at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga! This time the instrumentation was Bb clarinet, alto saxophone, piano, and contrabass. The ensemble did a truly wonderful job tackling this graphic score! Here’s a link to a youtube performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsrVzuqoLdM
Claire Edwardes played Patina in Australia yet again! This time in Victoria at the Peninsula Summer Music Festival on December 30, 2013. (It’s summer in Australia in December.)