Tag: concerts and events

Posted on

New Videos: “Refuge” Premiere and Landscape Music Interview

The concert I curated for the Parrish Art Museum last September featured NYC-based chamber quartet Cadillac Moon Ensemble in a program of music written by members of the Landscape Music Composers Network celebrating the National Park Service centennial. It was tremendously gratifying to see a year’s planning come to fruition and to receive such a great audience turnout and response.

Nell in The East Hampton StarWe received coverage in several publications, including The East Hampton Star, which featured an article about my work on the front page of their Arts & Living section.

This event included the World Premiere of my wildlife conservation suite, Refuge, written for Cadillac Moon Ensemble. You can now watch the performance online!

I also had the opportunity to sit down with three fellow composers, who traveled from all around the country to participate in this event. We had a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation about the processes, goals, and challenges of writing music inspired by nature.

Posted on

“Mabel’s Call” in New York City

Six Scenes collage image

COMPOSERS & THE VOICE: SIX SCENES

Friday, September 30 | 8:00pm
South Oxford Space
138 South Oxford Street
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Tickets $10

Sunday, October 2 | 2:30 PM
National Opera Center ”“ Rehearsal Hall
330 7th Ave, 7th floor
New York, NY 10001
Tickets $20

More Information & Tickets

An excerpt from my opera-in-progress inspired by the life of Mabel Dodge Luhan will be featured this weekend on Six Scenes: an exciting showcase presented by American Opera Projects.

This concert previews the future of opera with an evening of scenes from six operas developed during AOP’s latest season of Composers & the Voice, the Brooklyn-based fellowship training program that I’ve been privileged to participate in since Fall 2015.

Two scenes from Mabel’s Call will be performed by Tookah Sapper, soprano, as Mabel Dodge Luhan; Blake Friedman, tenor, as Maurice Sterne; and Kyle Guglielmo, baritone, as Tony Lujan, with music director Mila Henry.

Posted on

Video of “Mabel’s Call” in Taos

Enjoy this video compilation of a few special moments from last month’s workshop presentation of Mabel’s Call at the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos, featuring an ensemble of New Mexico-based performers.

Presented in conjunction with the museum’s exhibition Mabel Dodge Luhan & Company: American Moderns in the West, it was a wonderful evening with a great audience!

Posted on

Concert Presentation of “Mabel’s Call” in Taos

Bringing Mabel Dodge Luhan to Life through Opera. Friday August 12, 2016, at 5:30pm at the Harwood Museum of Art. 238 Ledoux Street, Taos, NM 87571. Admission $20/$16.

The Harwood Museum of Art is presenting an evening of scenes and arias from my opera-in-progress, Mabel’s Call, in conjunction with the Harwood Museum’s major traveling exhibit about Mabel Dodge Luhan and her circle. This workshop concert performance will be integrated into a lecture I’m giving about the process of writing the opera.

“Bringing Mabel Dodge Luhan to Life through Opera” is receiving great coverage from New Mexico Magazine, the Taos News, KRZA Radio, and the Mabel Dodge Luhan House blog.

Music from Mabel’s Call will be featured again in New York City on September 30 & October 2 as part of American Opera Project’s Six Scenes program.

Posted on

May 13 & 14 in New York City: “First Glimpse”

Composers, librettists, singers, and music directors of Composers & the Voice. Photo by Steven Pisano (Source).

 Friday, May 13 & Saturday, May 14, 2016 at 8:00pm
South Oxford Space, 138 South Oxford St., Brooklyn, NY 11217

Tickets: $25 general admission, $20 for students/seniors (Purchase online)

I’m honored to be a part of COMPOSERS & THE VOICE: FIRST GLIMPSE 2016, a presentation of World Premiere songs and arias from American Opera Projects’ fellowship program for emerging opera artists, directed by Steven Osgood.

The concert will feature AOP’s fantastic Resident Ensemble of Singers and Music Directors in performances of works created by myself and my colleagues in Composers & the Voice: Composers Matthew Barnson, Carlos R. Carrillo, Marc LeMay, Cecilia Livingston, and Sky Macklay and librettists Edward Einhorn, Duncan McFarlane, Emily Roller, and Mark Sonnenblick.

My works included on the program are:

Tony Teaches Me, an aria from an opera I’m writing based on the life and memoirs of Mabel Dodge Luhan. Performed by Tookah Sapper, soprano and Charity Wicks, piano.

Dear Mrs. Carr, a letter from John Muir to his beloved mentor. Performed by Blake Friedman, tenor and Charity Wicks, piano.

What If?, a playful “found text” piece that contemplates the darker side of Google. Performed by Jonathan Woody, bass-baritone and Mila Henry, piano.

More information at www.aopopera.org

Posted on

Landscape Music Comes to Boston on April 15

Chiura Obata, "Mono Crater, Sierra Nevada, California" (1930)Chiura Obata, “Mono Crater, Sierra Nevada, California” (1930)

Landscape Music Composers Network is a project I started last year bringing together composers from across the country who create music inspired by landscape, nature, and place. We’re kicking off our inaugural concert season in 2016, the centennial year of the National Park Service, starting in Boston on April 15.

The epic landscapes of Zion, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite will be brought to life in New Music of Our National Parks, conceived and presented by violinist/composer Rachel Panitch. The concert features several outstanding Boston-based musicians and ensembles in performances of new chamber music inspired by national parks, written by members of the Landscape Music Composers Network.

The program includes Dai-Shizen (Great Nature), inspired by the artwork of Chiura Obata, which I wrote for Alicia Mielke and Devin Ulibarri (below) in 2014.

Alicia Mielke   Devin Ulibarri

Check out the concert preview on Landscape Music, which explores each of the works on this program.

April 15, 2016, 8:00pm
Advent Library Concert Series
The Church of the Advent
30 Brimmer St (corner of Mount Vernon St)
Boston, MA
$10 suggested donation
Posted on

Video of “Wanderlust” and “Triptych”

Last month at the 10th annual Boston GuitarFest, the Faculty of the Young Guitarists Workshop (Adam Levin, Will Riley, Devin Ulibarri, and Colin Thurmond) gave the premiere performance of Wanderlust for guitar quartet, which they had commissioned from me for the occasion. A full-length video of this performance is now available, courtesy of Brian Dixon.

Devin Ulibarri also revisited Triptych, a solo work that I wrote for him back in 2011.

Posted on

Music for Guitars in Boston: June 16

World Premiere of Wanderlust (2015) for Guitar Quartet
Commissioned by Boston GuitarFest’s Young Guitarists Workshop Faculty

And Reprise Performance of Triptych (2011) for Solo Guitar

Boston GuitarFest X: Young Guitarists Workshop Faculty Recital
Tuesday, June 16, 2015, 7:30pm
Williams Hall at New England Conservatory
30 Gainsborough St, Boston, MA 02115
Free Admission (Tickets Available at the Door)

The faculty of Boston GuitarFest’s Young Guitarists Workshop – Adam Levin, Will Riley, Devin Ulibarri, and Colin Thurmond – will be giving the World Premiere of Wanderlust (2015) for guitar quartet (13 1/2 minutes), which they commissioned for this occasion.

On this concert, Devin Ulibarri will also be reprising Triptych (2011), a solo work (7 minutes) I composed for him to perform on Tuesday Night New Music in the very same concert hall back when we were students at NEC!

Wanderlust is my second work performed as part of Boston GuitarFest and my third collaboration with Devin. He and Alicia Mielke premiered Dai-Shizen (Great Nature) (2014) for flute and guitar last year on Boston GuitarFest’s Emerging Artist Marathon.

Watch Boston GuitarFest’s Young Guitarists Workshop for updates.

Posted on

Upcoming Boston Concerts: Works for Guitar

Are you in Boston? Do you enjoy guitar music? I hope you’ll be able to make it out to hear two upcoming performances of guitar music I’ve written for Devin Ulibarri and other Boston-based artists.

Friday, February 13, 2015 at 6:00pm
Devin Ulibarri, Guitarist
On this installment of the “A Musical Apertif” Concert Series themed “Love, Loss, and Love Again,” Devin will be revisiting two works I composed for him:Triptych and Dai-Shizen (Great Nature), which will feature Alicia Mielke on flute. Democracy Center at 45 Mt. Auburn Street in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA. $10 admission.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015 at 7:30pm
Boston GuitarFest
Young Guitarists Workshop Faculty Recital
I’m thrilled to be writing a new work for guitar quartet for premiere by the Boston GuitarFest’s Young Guitarists Workshop Faculty (Adam Levin, Will Riley, Devin Ulibarri, and Colin Thurmond). Admission details TBA. Watch Boston GuitarFest for updates.

Posted on

Premiere of “Dai-Shizen (Great Nature)” at Boston GuitarFest, June 28

UPDATE: video recording of this performance is now online!

Movements (played continuously):
California
Topaz
Sunset

Devin Ulibarri
Devin Ulibarri

The World Premiere of Dai-Shizen (Great Nature) for guitar and flute will be performed by fellow New England Conservatory alumni Devin Ulibarri and Alicia Mielke on the Emerging Artists concert at the 9th annual Boston GuitarFest this Saturday, June 28, 3:00pm in Jordan Hall.

Alicia Mielke
Alicia Mielke

I am honored to have my music presented on this prestigious festival by these two wonderful performers!

Visit the Boston GuitarFest website for more information about this concert and for tickets.

Dai-Shizen and Chiura Obata

When guitarist Devin Ulibarri – who I previously collaborated with in 2011 on Triptych – asked me to write a piece for him and flutist Alicia Mielke relating to Boston GuitarFest’s theme of “American Odyssey,” I gravitated towards the woodblock prints and ink and watercolor paintings of  Japanese-American artist Chiura Obata (1885-1975). Obata lived and worked primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area and devoted himself to bringing traditional Japanese aesthetics and techniques into American art. Obata’s own “American Odyssey” as an immigrant deeply devoted to the culture and landscape of California was complex and richly represented by his artwork.

Chiura Obata, "Mono Crater, Sierra Nevada, California"
Chiura Obata, “Mono Crater, Sierra Nevada, California”

While composing this piece, I considered specific images and qualities I perceived in Obata’s art and used those as prompts for musical ideas. I felt the lush yet restrained, and powerful yet delicate expressiveness of Obata’s prints and paintings would be reflected very effectively by flute and guitar. On a more personal level, my choice to respond to Obata’s artworks relates to my own background as a Bay Area native and love for California landscapes, as well as Devin’s deep commitment to Japanese culture and language.

I was particularly inspired by Obata’s ability to follow his philosophy of dai-shizen (Great Nature), nature as a source of artistic inspiration and spiritual harmony, throughout the best and worst moments of his life. Obata and his family spent over a year in internment camps during World War II, primarily in Utah. Despite these demeaning conditions, Obata strove to bring meaning into the lives of those around him. He founded an art school with his fellow internees and created stunning, emotionally charged watercolor paintings juxtaposing the dreary manmade structures of the prison camp against broad expanses of desert, mountains, and fiery sunsets.

Chiura Obata, "Sunset, Watertower, March 10, 1943"
Chiura Obata, “Sunset, Watertower, March 10, 1943”