Tomorrow evening Jacques-Pierre Malan is giving the East Coast premie of Triptych, my solo cello piece commissioned for the 2013 Klein International String Competition. JP is a very talented Peabody Conservatory student of Amit Peled‘s. The concert at St John’s Music In the Valley includes Amit, and a number of other cellists playing Bach, Boccherini, … Read More
This Saturday night, April 26th I’m giving a Fairfax Symphony Orchestra preconcert talk introducing Mahler 5. 70 minutes of intense, extraordinary, and meticulously crafted music. It’ll be a blast and I can’t wait to hear what Chris Zimmerman does with the orchestra!
What a cool surprise! A student group, under the direction of the amazing sax player Noah Getz, is workshopping one of my Emily Songs: an art song-bossa nova setting of Emily Dickinson’s “Heart! We Will Forget Him!” It’s a fun group of young musicians (vocal, sax, guitar, bass, and drums). Sound Collage, Sunday April 27th … Read More
Donna Shor, contributor for Hollywood On the Potomac wrote a lovely article about our recent panel discussion on “The Enduring Impact of Giuseppe Verdi” held at the Italian Ambassador’s residence.
Tuesday night February 25th I hosted a panel discussion with Washington Post music critic Anne Midgette and noted musicologist Saul Lilienstein at Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero’s lovely residence Villa Firenze. The panel discussed “The Enduring Impact of Giuseppe Verdi” in conjunction with The Washington Chorus’ upcoming march 2 (5 pm) Kennedy Center “Essential Verdi” program. Thank you Dianne … Read More
I’m thrilled to announce that as of this fall I will be Visiting Associate Professor at Georgetown University for the 2014-15 academic year. I will be joining distinguished colleagues in the Department of Performing Arts (music) including Anna Celenza, Angel Gil-Ordònèz, Anthony DelDonna, and Lura Johnson. I will teaching composition, theory, and a song writing seminar. .
I have been asked to host and help create a new series of informal post-concert conversations “And In Closing…” with the Fairfax Symphony’s Music Director Chris Zimmerman and added guests from different artistic disciplines. Instead of doing the usual concert/repertoire-specific talks, we aim to create a sense of community with the orchestra’s thriving audience and to … Read More
My next preconcert talk for the Baltimore Symphony and Levine Music at the Strathmore Center is on the music for two classic 1920’s Chaplin films The Idle Class and The Kid. Marin Alsop conducts the music from Chaplin’s films, written nearly 50 years after their release. February 1, 2014 at 7 pm. For more information check … Read More
This winter I will be joining the music department faculty at American University teaching theory. I look forward to working with some terrific colleagues in the department.
As you know my website motto is: Constructing thought, one note at a time. I came up with this it seemed to comprise the many things I do: composing, speaking, teaching, writing, and thinking about music. I love being in the thick of things. So, it’s been a bit since I’ve constructed thought one WORD at a time, … Read More