Let There Be Not Darkness, But Light
New quartet for clarinet, violin, cello, & piano Recorded August 2012 @ Harris Concert Hall, Aspen, Colorado Presented by the Aspen Music Festival
Inspiration: Hemingway
Reading Hemingway never fails to make me want to create art, and to create it better, faster, and stronger. I blame this on the author’s transparent Midwestern-ness and a quintessentially American work ethic that even a decade in Europe couldn’t cure. When he writes about his craft, or gives us characters that struggle with their … Read more
Inspiration: different trains
I love when, in a busy train station, a voice will come on the loudspeaker to announce the station stops of an imminent departure. Sometimes a long-distance train will pass though and the list will be quite extensive. Then, it’s easy to picture a lightening quick train flying by these strange places at the speed … Read more
Inspiration
One of the most common questions composers are asked is the straightforward, but totally disarming “What are you inspired by?” The question seems to follow from the premise that a single musical moment is “inspired” by a single extra-musical thing, be it love, rivers, tweets, cupcakes, sunsets, etc. etc. For me, the process feels much … Read more
Summer 2012: Aspen, Bel Air, Napa, Oregon, Brooklyn, Seattle
Heading west today under the soft purple glow of Virgin America cabin lighting as I kick off the madness of summer 2012. It’s a nice mix of business and pleasure, though, beginning with a bachelor party in Napa and a 60th birthday celebration up in Eugene. Later this month, I’m heading back to the foundation … Read more
Foundation Music (for orchestra)
This past summer I had a month-long residency at the Creative Kids Education Foundation in Bel Air, California, and one of the projects I worked on there was an overture to a short operatic film for the Portland 48-Hour Film Festival. I subsequently expanded that into a new piece for large orchestra, which was recorded … Read more
New recording: Piano Quartet
A new recording is available of my piano quartet “slowburn/fastburn” (2011). It was premiered by a quartet from the Curtis Institute, presented by the Penn Composers Guild. (mp3 download) Amalia Hall, Zoë Martin-Doike, Eric Han, Vivian Cheng
Viola sonata studio recording
I’m excited to post the brand new studio recording of my Viola Sonata, “the dreams we dream for the city of roses”. Recorded in December at Oktaven Studios in NYC with Jessica Meyer & Steven Beck, engineered by Ryan Streber. Streaming audio & download link are below. For those in Philadelphia, they’ll be giving … Read more
