My first MA year at Eastman is coming to a close. I feel very lucky to have gotten to know a lot of wonderful people here.
The opera, as ever, is chugging along. On Monday, the Eastman Philharmonia is reading the second act interlude, so in a bit of a pensive stage right now and probably drinking too much [coffee]. Today I met with Aaron Yarmel, the assistant concertmaster, and Stephanie Titus, the pianist, who will be working as a sort of concerted unit in the piece. I’ve lately been criticized by a couple of people for being somewhat inarticulate about my music. There is no better situation for eloquence and concision when working with players, so I think maybe it’s easier for me when there’s music out and people are putting some investment into its interpretation. Monday (I should just about say “tomorrow” by EST) will be interesting; though the piece is short (ca. 6′) it is aesthetically challenging and the strings have a few awkward shifts. The rest of the group will hopefully put up blinders, do the whole “four-on-the-floor” thing and count like monsters. Winds are great at this, and the last orchestra piece I had read required a lot of this, which they executed really well. Oliver Hagen is conducting all of the readings, and we’re meeting tomorrow evening to discuss the piece. Readings are, in the immortal words of James Hopkins, “better than sex.” (I told him I thought it was worth considering who was up for sexing and the reading before deciding that.)
I’m very happy that Courtney Angela Brkic is working as the librettist— she’s well known as a writer and also highly regarded for her work with the UN’s ICTY and as a forensic anthropologist in Bosnia. And there seems to be a wonderful working chemistry as well, which is the most important thing. I’m continually reminded what a stake people are taking with this “fledgeling” composer and I’m very grateful. It looks like my trip to Bosnia will have to wait until next summer. This is good in many ways, as I’ll have most likely departed Rochester by then, and will have another situation on the horizon. I don’t want to keep speculating as to what that will be, but a number of great options seem to be emerging.
Unrelated to the opera, I recently sent revised versions of my oboe aphorisms to Imre Bojtár’s duo in Hungary, and I’m flattered by his interest in my music. The pieces will also be played in Los Angeles later this year by Alexandra von der Embse, an old friend of mine and a phenomenal young oboist. Looks like I’ve been commissioned to write a song cycle for mezzo, piano and tenor trombone— a strange and challenging instrumentation, no doubt— by two former Eastman students, one of whom premiered Srebrenica Fields last July. It’s a small and exciting world.
Next year holds some interesting opportunities. This fall, I’ll be conducting Allan Schindler’s piece Take Me Places, as well as a concerto night opening with Bob Morris’ concerto for piano and winds (Quaerere et Invenire), followed by my forthcoming oboe concerto for Liz Spector, and concluding with Agah Yarbo-Davenport’s premiere of Frederick Lesemann’s violin concerto. Should be great, once all the scheduling falls into place. I anticipate working a lot with OSSIA and the Composers’ Sinfonietta again (for the latter I’m writing a chamber orchestra piece this July). In the spring, I’d like to do a concert of opera scenes by Eastman composers— faculty and students alike.
In a general sense, life is great. The warmth I experienced (or humidity, perhaps) is returning, fragmented by occasional thunderstorms. It’s also a good time to think about musical time, pacing and large form, three areas I feel it’s time to reconsider. I’ve written a number of solo pieces this year in an effort to address this; one of my favorite experiences was working with Brad Hogarth on a piece for picc trumpet and piano resonance, ironically titled Two-Step. Brad’s now teaching in Japan and is missed around here.
Thank you all who’ve offered support, and I hope to see you soon.
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