April 28, 2009
It may make no sense, but I’m packing up the family and heading west. It’s not just a master’s in composition, it’s an MFA! Even more useless. But I plan to make the most of the two years out there.
The first best thing to happen is already being invited to a show. Grace Jones/Dengue Fever/Of Montreal at the Hollywood Bowl, July 26. We’re moving out there to make it to that.
February 12, 2009
Getting introduced to spectral composing over the last few months has been pretty incredible. But it’s also showed something odd that’s been happening with other new composers, the web savvy, with-it ones. They are online, generating content, streaming their music, sure. But they are also writing about music in an immediate and personal way, even things that one suspects are encountered most vibrantly in an analytical mind-set. I’m struggling with this directly in the lessons I’m taking now. I have the urge to hack through one of these complicated modern pieces, and Istvan is getting me to focus on the stuff between the lines. It’s really helpful to keep my eye on what’s fun. That didn’t get me into Yale, but in the end, so what.
January 27, 2009
In an attempt to find Kaija Saariaho music in my iTunes, I inputed “saa” in the search function.
What returned, in order, was
This is a sign.
January 22, 2009
Anne Midgette, Terry Teachout, Tom Service, Alex Ross. Most people seemed not to like it. It seems like if you were expecting a lot, it was disappointing. But if you weren’t (and I wasn’t), then it was totally adequate.
Update: haha/christjebus, joke’s on us.
Doubleupdate: via Kyle Gann, way fun reinterpretation
January 21, 2009
Let’s try something new.
Flux, Pens, and Grease 