Densities, again

The more I listen to/delve into the piece I am working on for piano and drum set, the more that I realize that it needs to be a percussion ensemble piece to have the desired effect. I can also now see one of the major challenges of being a working composer, which is writing music to a deadline. Having (thought I) completely finished it, after only about three months of work, my final product is only a sketch for the piece I now envision that I want people to hear. And yet a concert is expected in a little over a month. This is certainly a conundrum.

In other news I've been accepted for a Masters of Music in Composition at King's College, London. Looks like I'm leaving town for a while.

Densities/Blueprints

I'm currently working on a piece called Densities. It deals with relationships between numbers at is for piano and drum set. My good friend Ian Crandell is helping me out with some of the math that needs to be performed for its composition. When it's finished, I plan on rescoring it for piano and tape, drum set and tape, and percussion ensemble. I will also post a description of some of the techniques that went into it.

I've begun making plans for my next two pieces as well. Both involve spoken word. There may also be a string quartet based on some of the pitch material in the current piece, Densities, on the way. We'll see what the priorities are come the end of this one.

I'll be in Paris studying counterpoint and harmony at L'Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris for the month of July. I'll also be studying composition with Sofia Gubaidulina. If you're there during that time, drop me a line.

Concerts, new piece in the works

If you're in the San Diego area, I've got a few shows coming up, with various groups. Here are the dates and locations:

March 13, 6 pm: UCSD Guitar Ensemble performs my piece "Under a Neon Sky" at Erickson Hall, UCSD

April 17, 12 pm: Honest Iago is playing in a battle of the bands in Price Center to open on the mainstage for the Sun God festival.

May 7, 8 pm: My pieces Under a Neon Sky, 88, and the new one called Densities will be performed at Mandeville Recital Hall

May 17, 8 pm: I'll be the soloist in a performance of Steve Reich's epic Electric Counterpoint, Erickson Hall

May 31, 8 pm: Another performance of Electric Counterpoint

Hope to see you at one of them!