George Grella of New York Classical Review had some very nice things to say about Andrew Gonzalez and my “fierce little viola piece!” “Joel Friedman’s solo viola work, When the World Disintegrates Before Your Eyes, brought more intensity and emotional darkness. This is a technically and expressively demanding piece, ably played by Andrew Gonzalez. The … Read More
I’m thrilled that on January 13th Irving M. Klein International String Competition will be presenting a concert – “A CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP” – of California-related works performed by illustrious Klein alumni INCLUDING 2 of my 2013 Klein Competition commissions “Uncle Hokum’s Fiddle” for solo violin (East Coast Premiere performed by Kevin Lin, Curtis Institute) and “When … Read More
My “fierce little viola piece” When the World Disintegrates Before Your Eyes will have its New York premiere next month January 1-4, 2016 at Bargemusic’s Here and Now Festival with the exciting young violist Andrew Gonzalez (Sphinx, Heifetz Institute). And to celebrate the occasion here’s another amazing violist Derek Smith, principal violist of New Orchestra of Washington, giving … Read More
I’m hopping a flight early tomorrow morning and heading west to teach WSP 64 — Revolution: The Songwriting of The Beatles for Stanford University’s Continuing Studies program It’s sold out, so we’ve added a 2nd class Sunday! A splendid time is guaranteed for all!
Patrick McCoy of Washington Life Magazine reviewed New Orchestra of Washington’s performance of Elastic Band at Georgetown’s Gonda Theatre in his Perfect Pitch column! Thanks for the kind words Patrick. Those are some of my Georgetown University students towering over me. Read it here.
How’s this for a weekend’s work: scoring the launch video for the hot internet startup Wine Ring! Wine Ring has major math under the hood that makes choosing wines easy. It’s all based on what you like, not ratings, but your preferences. I had a blast working with co-founders Pam Dillon and Andrew Sussman. Oh, … Read More
My fantastic trip back to the Bay Area for the premiere of Movable Home with Barbara Day Turner and the San Jose Chamber Orchestra ended on a high note: a chance to work with some terrific young composers in Maestro Anthony Quartuccio’s AP Music Theory class at the Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto. KEHILLAH WELCOMES CLASSICAL COMPOSER, JOEL … Read More
On October 11 my new string orchestra piece Movable Home received a fantastic premiere by Artistic Director Barbara Day Turner and the San José Chamber Orchestra to kick off their 25th season. This was the 1st of the 3 performances from the commissioning consortium of San José Chamber Orchestra, Takoma Ensemble (Victoria Gau, Artistic Director) and SONYC (String Orchestra of New York, Monica Bauchwitz, Artistic Director). Next … Read More
Friday, October 9th after the SCJO rehearsal of Movable Home the trio of me, Maestra Barbara Day Turner, and virtuoso violinist Stephanie Chase headed to KKUP to sit down and talk with head of classical music Gaylord Fischer about our upcoming 25th season opening concert including Stephanie’s performance of both Vivaldi’s Concerto for 4 Violins and her … Read More
Sunday night, fresh off a terrific pair of performances of Elastic Band at Georgetown’s Gonda Theatre and AMP/Strathmore, the New Orchestra of Washington, conducted by Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, hit Omega Studios with producer Geoffrey Silver of Acis Productions at the helm. Great session, can’t wait to hear the final product! (photo: Christian Amonson)