New Recording: Missa Brevis
Finally getting around to sifting through recordings from the 2010–2011 season. Here is the complete audio from my Missa Brevis for the Virgin of Guadalupe. I’m conducting the Choir of St Mary’s Episcopal Church accompanied by an ensemble of excellent musicians from the Curtis Institute at the Philadelphia Cathedral in December 2010.
Festival Mass recordings, first installment: Gloria
Below is a recording of the Gloria from my Festival Mass that I conducted last month in Philadelphia. The whole thing ran about 75 minutes, so I think I’ll post excerpts over the next few weeks. For the enthusiasts, a score is available here. The Choir of St Mary’s Episcopal Church and the Choral Scholars … Read more
Festival Mass for the Great Vigil of Easter
Monday, April 25. 8pm. Philadelphia Cathedral (38/Ludlow) World premiere: Festival Mass for the Great Vigil of Easter. Choir, soloists, brass, strings, percussion, organ. 70 minutes. Choral Scholars of the Philadelphia Cathedral Choir of St Mary’s Episcopal Church Players from Curtis, Temple, &c. Composer conducts.
NYC recording session: Viola Sonata
I had a wonderful recording session this weekend with Jess Meyer and Steve Beck from counter)induction at Oktaven Audio in NYC. I’ve thrown together a short video with clips and stills from the session as well as a bit of rough-edit audio. I can’t say enough what a thrill it is to be able to … Read more
New recording: Sextet: Water Music (2010)
A new recording of my Sextet: Water Music (2010) is now available. The piece was commissioned earlier this year by the Syzygy New Music Collective, and was performed this weekend at Penn by musicians from the Curtis Institute of Music. Enjoy!
Missa Brevis preview…
Here’s a sample clip taken from a dress rehearsal yesterday. Also, great write-up from Penn Communications here. Choir of St Mary’s with musicians from the Curtis Institute:
Getting closer…
From the press release for the upcoming premiere at the Philadelphia Cathedral on Dec. 13: Scott J. Ordway’s “Missa Brevis for the Virgin of Guadalupe” was commissioned by St Mary’s Episcopal Church, Hamilton Village as part of its New Music for Sacred Spaces Project. It will be sung for the first time as an integral … Read more
Doing a lot with a little
Just found an amazing example of the “a little bit goes a long way” principle. The song is “Cavalcade” by the always-perfectly-understated Brooklyn electro-pop duo Mitten, and this video very much plays on a feature that make the music itself awesome: carefully chosen materially used really, really well and in a simple, elegant way. The … Read more
Kids these days…
I’ve lately observed a distinct trend of twenty-something indie rockers writing songs nostalgizing, but not lamenting the ends of things: high school/summer/love/etc. and wonder if bands like the Shout Out Louds, for instance, aren’t expressing something the Times wrote about a few months ago. When I listen to “Impossible” or “Normandie” as a twenty-something … Read more
Berlin premiere: Introduction & Toccata
Just got this recording from a Berlin premiere last month. Kristjan Hallik (violin) and Natalia Volochenko (piano) performing at the Neue Synagogue in Oranienburgerstraße. It’s a short piece, virtuosic and rather insistent once it gets going. Introduction & Toccata for violin and piano (2010):
