Ever wanted to screw around with Musique concrète and not really tell anybody about it? Me too! Click here.  It's actually fun. (Oooo! I teaching tool!)

Via Ian David Moss at Creatquity, some very interesting thoughts (his blog in general is rather interesting) about the plight of American playwrites or composers for orchestra as an excellent example of "how hard it is out there" and why.  What I learned - unions suck and I meet the demographic requirements to write for orchestra! Hooray!

In Richmond, VA in early February?  Go see my friend Bryan and his ensemble at RVAJazzfest 2010.

Rumor has it that WGBH in Boston will be braodcasting the Metropolitan Opera Council New England Regional finals on sunday 1/24. You should listen.

Dare I say "optimism?"

Right before the new year...

1) I received an offer to become a staff singer at this lovely sanctuary, which I accepted.

2) These nice folks picked up my String Quartet, putting it a step closer to potential programming.

3) I got an invitation to interview for the interim Artistic Director position with a group to be named later.

Right after the new year...

4) The nice folks at this lovely sanctuary told me they will be doing a motet and four movements of my choral Mass at a service early next month.

Well, then!

Quite the busy boy, I am.  I like to make lists of stuff I've done.  This conflicts with my wife's desire for me to make lists of things to do.  Maybe it's a commitment thing, not like a personal commitment, but of a ...it doesn't matter (i just did a whole thing by myself, you see).

I like to make lists fo stuff I've done, particularly at stock taking times like this one.  Quite a busy boy I am!

First, the sacred stuff:

One motet - a 4 and 6 part O Sacrum Convivium

A set of Communios for lesser feasts - Epiphany, Transfiguration, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday

One more Southern Harmony song - Resignation which I wrote for my friend, ML who still hasn't done it yet, dammit.

A Unision Mass for Grace Church, Newton, for which, the Sanctus needs reworking.

The last in a set of four pieces, also for Grace - a Stabat Mater for two voice parts and organ.

I started a Magnificat last Sunday and will likely finish it before the new year.

Remember when I said I wasn't going to write any more sacred music?

And now, the not so sacred, in no particular order:

A string quartet, premiered in June

A set of songs for baritone and cello, also premiered in June

A set of four pieces for wind ensemble

A set of pieces (three complete to date, the fourth one started) for solo Trombone and voice (at the same time, by the same player, cuz he's cool like that, or because he has ADD or something)

Two piano preludes (C and Db Major, you know where that's heading...)

A piece for percussion ensemble (in progress)

Two arias and a scene for my mad libretto opera project, premiered in October.

Here's to another productive year (and to other people doing my work), the ICS project, professional developments (more on that later) and to a slew of other shit.

Signing off until the next decade!

I have been blankly staring at the wall of how to record all of my motets and service music so as to put it into the world in a proper like fashion.  The problem is that although I have many singer friends who are interested in helping me out, it is VERY difficult to a) get them together to b) rehearse and c) record a piece of music in d) a reasonable amount of time e) for no pay, but maybe pizza.  Now multiply that by 30 motets.  That's ALOT of pizza.

So, take that, and add my unhealthy, one-sided relationship with pomplamoose and my general awe and wonder at their music making, which is done entirely in-house and piece by piece, and you get...

The Interwebs Choral Society.

With a little help from Garageband (and Apple computers, that are, unfortunately, required for participation) I will make available on this here website pdf scores and Garageband files, on which will be MIDI reductions of my choral works.  Singer friends who are so inclined to help can record themselves singing their voice part using the MIDI as a guide, then send it back to me for mixdown.

Wanna help?

Composers are a fickle bunch...that is to say that I think they are.  I don't really have a ton of composer friends.  Which is to show my point and I'll say no more.

I'm going to let you read this, (from a website launched 4 days ago) which was sent this morning to all 2,500+ members (including me) of this facebook group.

A few questions: 1) Can composers be friends? 2) Can composers engage in constructive dialogue with each other? 3) Does the fact that thousands of composers swamped a facebook page seemingly in the spirit of congenial solidarity, only to pound the group's wall with advertisements for their own material show a bit of desperation?

I'd quit the group, but I want to see how this turns out.