RESONANZ

A composer's dispatches

What is this?

It's not “content.”

This is RESONANZ - a space for soundings about music, about process, about the business and the bullshit; about craft, collaboration, and connection with the social and cultural dialogue.

I’m Frank Pesci. I’ve been a professional composer for over 20 years. I write operas, sacred choral works, chamber and concert music, and song. Some of it’s been performed in major houses and by world-class ensembles. Some of it’s still on the shelf. I stand by all of it.

RESONANZ is where I seed the garden. It’s also where I invite you—colleagues, students, collaborators, critics—to tend it with me.

Why "Resonanz"?

Because music doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

Because art has to exist in the real world, and the real world is complicated.

Because I believe that generosity and rigor aren’t enemies.

Because I want to help others make music and live their artistic lives without (or at least aware of) the lies, the burnout, or the ego games - all of which have been my pitfalls.

What You’ll Find Here

Essays & Field Notes - Thoughts on composing, collaborating, rehearsing, failing, restarting, and building a life in the arts that isn’t dependent on applause.
Listening & Learning - Mini-lectures on musical craft, opera storytelling, text setting, form, choral idiom, and more—sometimes in written form, sometimes podcast, sometimes video. Nothing fancy. No filler.
Professional Practice - The nuts and bolts of surviving - and maybe even thriving - as a composer: from green light to opening night, from edits to ego check. Not advice. Just what I’ve learned.
Studio Dispatches - Updates from ongoing projects, including The Underwater Cabaret, collaborations in development, and whatever's simmering on the next burner.
Independent Publishing - because that's also what I do.