composer's notebook

…North Adams MA – go to MassMoCA to see the Sol LeWitt wall paintings retrospective. Awesome. And if you have a 20-month-old bring ‘em along. They seem to dig old factories filled with trippy blocks of color.

…Kenosha WI – go check out the Carthage College Wind Orchestra, ’cause they’re really good. I just finished a guest conducting residency there with the 2009 Lakeside Band Festival, and left with a spring in my step. And that was after conducting EW‘s October, JB‘s Angels with Dirty Faces, and SB‘s MetaMarch, as well as 3 bits of my own stuff, to make a complete BCM meal (sorry, Kenosha). And while you’re there in Kenosha, ask after their annual “Band-o-rama”. This year’s was a week before I got there. A 1500-piece ensemble playing Chaos Theory? Yeah, I didn’t believe it either. But I’ve seen the pictures on Facebook.

…Bloomington IN in April, Cincinatti OH in July, or Kurashiki Japan in November – go hear a premiere performance of Symphony No. 1, My Hands are a City, ’cause those are the three performances I know of so far. That would be Indiana University Jacobs School of Music SpringFest where I’ll be this year’s composer-in-residence, Ramiro Barerra’s James Logan High School Wind Symphony 2009 WASBE Conference performance, and Sakuyo Wind Orchestra’s Fall concert (under the direction of Jim Ripley), respectively.

…New York City – you can find me head-down at the studio, frantically working on said Symphony, to make sure the above performances actually happen. Call first, we’ll get a coffee downstairs.