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Category Archives: News
Veiled to be included on Wendy Richman’s upcoming album
flatways 
The amazing violist Wendy Richman is heading into the recording studio later this spring to make her first solo album. I’m honored that she’s including Veiled, a new (more compact) version of Highway Music, a piece I wrote for her a few years ago, alongside awesome music by Jason Eckhardt, Ken Ueno, Christian Carey, David Smooke, Lou Bunk, Everette Minchew, Arlene Sierra, and Jose-Luis Hurtado. All of the pieces on this record feature Wendy’s unique skill in playing viola and singing. Wendy’s hosting a fundraising campaign over at indiegogo for the duration of this next month to cover all costs of recording and production. Please check it out and consider pitching in if you can!
Two pieces after Scarlatti:
Amritsar 
I’m very happy to share the premiere performance by Emily Green of some new piano music from this past December. I became infatuated with Domenico Scarlatti’s huge corpus of Sonatas a few years ago, and these two pieces are a tribute of sorts to the master. Please click here to take a listen and read more. Emily did an amazing job with this music at the premiere, and we’re hoping to make a studio recording this summer.
Vox Animarum
One of my projects this past year was a new solo cello piece for Dan Shomper. Vox Animarum is the result, and you can listen to it below.
More info on Vox Animarum here.
Aqua Vitae recording posted
Colin Hill and the percussion ensemble at Tennessee Tech University gave the premiere of my new percussion quartet Aqua Vitae last month. I just got a recording of the piece from them: take a listen below:
More info on Aqua Vitae here.
Strauss Artist Grant
I am so happy to announce that I’ve been awarded a 2016 Strauss Artist Grant from the Arts Council of Fairfax County. Thank you Arts Council for your support! This grant will allow me to pursue several interesting projects over the coming year, helping me to continue and grow as an artist.
Two new pieces
Two new pieces were premiered this spring: back in March, cellist Dan Shomper gave the premiere of Vox Animarum, and in April, Colin Hill and the percussion ensemble at Tennessee Tech University premiered Aqua Vitae, for percussion quartet.
Both of these pieces were written over my sabbatical last fall, and in each work I’m trying something entirely new to my compositional vocabulary: in the cello piece, I worked with Dan on bow pressure techniques that widen the timbral spectrum to include quite a bit of noise in the cello’s tone. In the percussion quartet, I decided to work with a collection of junk instruments (bits of metal and wood) alongside traditional percussion instruments like bass drums, toms, marimbas, and vibraphone. Aqua Vitae, as you might guess from the title, was written as an homage to the centuries-old whiskey making process. You can read more about both pieces via these links: Vox Animarum, for solo cello, Aqua Vitae, for percussion quartet.
Posted in Chamber, News, Solo, Uncategorized
Spektral Quartet Reading Lists:
Spektral Quartet asked some of their recent collaborators for reading recommendations! Check it out: I was happy to be included.
Fall 2015: news and updates
I’m very excited that Wendy Richman will be reviving Highway Music this winter, in a newly revised version that will have its premiere on the New Music Gathering in Baltimore this January. This piece, for a singing violist + electronics, was commissioned by Strathmore Music Center and premiered by Wendy there in 2011. Wendy will be pairing my piece with Jason Eckardt’s to be held… for a short set on the Intrumental+ segment of the program.
I’ve got a few projects in the works that are slowly taking shape over the next few weeks: a set of Scarlatti-inspired piano pieces, and some new percussion music. Details to be announced shortly.
New Morse Code premiered Transit last spring down here in Washington, DC. Here’s a link to a really nice video from them shredding in the beautiful Washington College concert hall.
And, last but certainly not least, I’m now a tenured professor at CUA, and after seven years of teaching I’m on my first sabbatical this semester. Plans for the fall away include writing, more writing, and going on runs with Lev (because he’s finally big enough for a jogging stroller!).
Spring/Summer updates:
This year’s concert season went out with a bang: May 17th saw two premieres on the same day in DC (Atlantic Reed Consort doing Brightness Catching, and Inscape Chamber Orchestra playing my new version of What I Decided to Keep), which came on the heels of New Morse Code premiering Transit at the beginning of April. I hope to post recordings of Brightness Catching and Transit shortly. What I Decided to Keep, released on Inscape’s American Aggregate last fall, is available most places music is sold (iTunes, Amazon, etc). That album also got a nice write up in the April edition of Gramaphone, which you can check out by clicking here.
Winter updates: recordings and performances
I’m really excited to share a live recording of Sounding Dawn, my new piece for double bass and electronics commissioned by Ira Gold. Ira and I premiered the piece on a tour this fall that included performances at the University of Louisville, University of Michigan, Oberlin College, and Cleveland Institute of Music. The piece was inspired by our shared love of running, particularly those that are occasionally taken as the sun comes up (…occasionally). I think Ira did a fantastic job with this – the various timbral contortions I put him through aren’t easy – and I’m looking forward to playing it again with him in the future. Check out the recording here.
Coming up this winter, Chicago’s Spektral Quartet will be playing Passage through the city, a piece written for them in 2012, at venues in Chicago (Jan. 9th and 10th), Grand Rapids, MI (Feb. 8th), and right here in Washington, DC (Feb. 12th). Spektral has been making a name for themselves over the last few seasons with incredible playing on a truly diverse array of projects (check out their Mobile Miniatures project!). Info/tickets links are on my performances page: come and check them out if you’re in the area of any of those concerts (I’ll be at the DC show).
My last bit of news for 2014 is that I just put the finishing touches on a new piece for DC’s own Atlantic Reed Consort: Brightness Catching, written for the unique combination of Oboe, Clarinet, Alto Sax, Bassoon, and Bass Clarinet. Be on the lookout for a premiere this coming spring.