Performance of my music

Life has gotten full lately, with all kinds of things, including contacts with many, many people, a lot attention to my Juilliard course, and some writing. My apologies for neglecting the blog. I’ve been saying that time management has to be a number one priority, but another way to put it would be — triage rules. I’m always learning more about how to get the balance right.

But here’s one thing I want to announce. And the simplest way would be to quote the e-mail I sent out to my private mailing list. (Which, since I haven’t vetted it lately, might well fail to include some people reading this, who really ought to be on it. Apologies, and don’t hesitate to submit your name!)

Ten days Eight days from now…

 

Two pieces of mine, at the first concert of Victoria

Bond’s Cutting

Edge Concerts New Music Festival, Monday, April 6, 7:30 PM, at Symphony Space, 95th Street and

Broadway in New York. There’s a pre-concert panel discussion (which I’ll be on)

at 6:30.

 

Which pieces? Two short, tight, expressive little works,

my Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano, and my Short Talks, for a pianist who also

plays a drum.

 

The Short Talks are based on prose poems by Anne Carson.

whose searing intensity is burned into very few words. The music might

sometimes seem calm (deceptively), but it sometimes bursts into violence, and

sometimes falls silent, unable to speak. The drum is its underworld. This is a

work in progress. We’ll here five of the Short Talks. Three have been performed

before, and two will be world premieres.

 

The Sonatina, barely six minutes long, covers a lot of

ground. In the first two movements, piano and clarinet play entirely separate

pieces. Literally so – they could each play independently. Then in the finale

they come together for a wild rhythmic ride, completely in unison.

 

Two truly terrific musicians are involved. Jenny Lin is

the pianist (and drummer), Charles Neidich plays the clarinet.  And my

pieces do reflect the theme of this year’s Cutting Edge concerts: What sparks

the imagination? To see scores of my pieces or hear recordings, go here.

 

I hope you can be there! (And, to my out of town friends,

I hope you’ll be there in spirit.)