Has It Really Been Since June?

Apparently I'm not very good at keeping up a blog. Maybe that's a good thing though, as I've been spending just about all of my time doing music since last time I've updated. Here's what happened this summer:

1. Graduated UCSD, degree in music and political theory. Cool!

2. Moved to Paris, to study for summer at L'Ecole Normale Du Musique Du Paris. I spent most of my time doing counterpoint and harmony and ear training and the like in the Nadia Boulanger method, but got to compose a bit under Michel Merlet, who was a student of Messiaen's. Also made some great friends, from all over the place. I wrote a string trio, that I started during an all-nighter on the sidewalk in pouring rain in a small town called Arras, after seeing Radiohead and Sigur Ros there. You can hear it from the Paris show at the end of July here.

3. Went back to California for a couple of weeks, where I helped out some friends in The Honest Iago Music and Arts Collective with some recording and writing. I'll put a link up to their site when the songs are released. Also had shows with them, which went very well.

4. Said a very sad but hopeful goodbye to my friends and girlfriend and family and moved to London. I'm now here and studying composition with Rob Keeley for an MMus at King's College London, and generally enjoying the music scene and meeting people. Finally saw the Rite of Spring live and it was a religious experience on Wednesday, especially when coupled with Ligeti's Atmospheres and performed by the London Philharmonic. This is a great town for music, as that concert was only 4 pounds, and they seem to have something similar almost every day. The next night (Thursday) my friends Tom, Nil, and I went to go see Strike Anywhere at the Camden Underworld, also a great show. I did get a very solid kick in the face, but it feels a bit better tonight. It looks like we are starting a composers'/new music ensemble at King's with some of the other people in the program, and I'm getting close already with a guy from Cornwall named Tom, and an Irish guy named Donal, who are both composers and really great guys.

5. There's a duo for violin and viola on the way, and it's going to be entirely new territory for me. That's all folks.

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.