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July 20, 2008

Srebrenica Fields and more

Filed under: Updates — geoffrey @ 6:18 pm

It’s been some time since I posted here; in truth, I have been having a small hiatus from working. It’s been a fallow– and in that sense, productive– two months, and I feel almost recharged.

Some exciting things are happening to/with Sarajevo Vespers, which I will elucidate as soon as they become more palpable and less private. They concern financial support, intercultural sponsorship, design and potential venues. It is hard to predict the timeline, but our goal is for a substantial production of the opera in 2012. I am currently working through channels within Bosnia and the US.

It was my recent honor to work with some distinguished performers at the “Art of Sound” Summer Brass Institute in Atherton, California. The premiere of the Srebrenica Fields commission was a success, and hailed by some as my “best work yet.” The piece was completed this past April, and features an antiphonal trumpet in dialogue (some would say in a stile Ivesia sort of manner) with the main ensemble that consists of a 12-instrument symphonic brass section. Earlier on the day of the performance, I managed to snag a runthrough on tape. It is posted in the “media” section of this website, and is a good representation of the caliber of musicians I was able to work with (including Thornton’s David McLemore and Indiana’s Scott Cook). Nora King Smith performed the solo trumpet part– both elegaic and martial– beautifully.

I shall be studying with Allan Schindler at Eastman, who is recognized for leading an incredible electronic music program as well as writing sensitively and accessibly on music perception and cognition. In the same vein, I move to Rochester in mid-August.

I hope the summer is treating you as well as it has me, and I’m looking forward to what’s to come in the near future.

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July 20, 2008

Srebrenica Fields and more

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