Garden Party Pictures

I think this small sampling of pictures really says it all- minus the pictures of all the people actually attending the party. Images courtesy of George Mendel at Pittsburgh Grapevine. http://www.pittsburghgrapevine.com/groups/view/id_131/.

Mattress Factory Urban Garden Party

Well, it's all over. Now we pick up the mess. Mattress Factory museum had their annual Garden Party fundraiser (though an equally busy Community Day is planned for tomorrow) and I managed to stay alive. I was in charge of ticket sales, and we had a thousand bodies come through the door in one way or another. I came into work a little late yesterday, as the museum was closed in preparation for the event, but I didn't get home until 1:30am. Let me collect my thoughts as to what transpired last night. Pictures will be posted on flikr at some point, and I was definitely in one of them, though I missed when images projected onto one of the 10 plasma TVs in our giant parking lot tent.

The theme of this years' party was 'All Access: Backstage Pass'. Guests paying $200 each arrived for the VIP party, greeted by a crowd of fans listening to a Rolling Stones cover band, and paparazzi taking all of the guests photos. Once you went past the band, you were 'backstage' (i.e. inside the museum) and the band was pretty much nonexistent. Interesting concept, I suppose!

I worked willcall with several other dedicated volunteers and employees, taking tickets and making sure that corporate sponsors got all the right tickets. Out of all the tickets given, I think I only forgot about three people on the list, which impressed me! The hardest part was deciding who gets VIP and which corporation they worked for- sometimes I'd have a last name of a ticketholder, and sometimes I only had a company name. There were way too many exceptions to the rules, and way too many comp tickets!

The VIP Party included, and I kid you not:
-A basement lounge lit by blacklight, with chairs and a bed made out of stuffed animals
-The Pens game on projection screen (and they won the Stanley Cup because we had the Garden Party, obviously)
-Tabla players
-Live-action painting
-A little person dressed as a nurse, carried on a caravan-style bed by four bodybuilders
-A big person nurse giving out jello shots, with an I.V. drip created from a vodka bottle.
-Um, and a naked girl covered in food for people to eat off of. I think she had some kind of banana leaves covering the important (possibly unsanitary) bits.

The regular party began an hour later, which opened up into the larger parts of the museum. This was the main event, which was open bar, and tickets were $90 each. I can't believe that all this happened:
-A Hookah bar
-Four drag queens performing (amazing!)
-A sword swallower
-A ceiling covered in stuffed animals, draped with fabrics
-A pole dancer
-Naked body-painted models dancing on stage
-About 60 food and beverage vendors
-A 30-foot-long limousine that functions as a bar: bartenders gave you drinks from the inside of it.

The lobby of the museum then transformed into a dessert room for all the guests, filled with cupcakes, cookies, and treats, and there were so many cupcakes left I didn't know what to do with them. Hardly a disappointment.

Oh! I almost forgot. As you enter the building, you are greeted by five models in bathing suits, in a hot tub. In the museum. I heard several curators say it was the best party they've even been to. I don't know about that, but it was certainly crazy, and everyone seemed like they had a blast.
I think the funniest thing about the party was that I kept repeating, 'I can't believe this is happening at our museum'. The chairs of the party are famous for their rock and roll event hosting, and they wanted everything to seem spontaneous and chaotic, like you might miss something if you didn't know it was happening. The weird thing about that was that the performers, guests, music, hockey game and the decorations combined to be a strange mix of Mattress Factory style (read: industrial chic meets goodwill meets 1940's deco) and tickety-tack tranny meets fratboy meets aging hippies. This towed the line between kind of horrible and offensive, and kind of awesome and amazing. And I think the crux of the event was that the mix just tipped over the edge toward amazing! I'll have to remember that when it comes to planning my birthday party.

The main event ended around 11:30, and cleanup went relatively smoothly, though it always takes longer than one hopes. I'm sure I've still got a lot of work to do on Monday, when the real cleanup begins, and we have to count up tickets, clean the liquor spills and the cupcake crumbs, and talk about how everything went. But now that the year's biggest fundraiser is out of the way, I can think about my summer vacation coming up in August!

Pictures to come, as soon as I see them posted...
Hope to see you at the Garden Party next year.

Nuclear Babies

This collage was a goodbye present of sorts to J & B who are moving to Washington, DC for better work (and real-people salaries...sniffle). They'll be missed, but they'll always have this strange collage to remember me by. Who doesn't love the combined forces of engineering drawings and pyschological subjects, and one picture of a lolcat, with some graphs and charts over top of it all?
I hope it finds a good spot on the walls of their new place so when I come visit I can point out how I really captured its owners essences (not really).

Concert thanks

Thank you to all who came out to the concert in support of Wungsten and the Nathan Hall + David Bernabo CD release. We have very few of the first limited edition left, and may need to print a second edition soon! A great group of people came to show their support and I received lots of good comments on the music. It was also great to play in the same space we recorded the album in- the acoustics are lovely and there was a backdrop of a thousand piled-up instruments and stands which added I don't know what. Charm, maybe?
We also received one review from a fan, which you can read here. I'm glad that I surpassed expectations in some way!
My piano student also came and said that the next time we play, I need to play the song about otters because otters are her favorite animal, but Blackbird was a close second.
Here's one of my songs with Wungsten, called 'Tropical Depression', courtesy of Matt H.

CD Release: Nathan Hall + David Bernabo

Hello rabid fans! Or should I say, hello one unfortunate fan who got bit by a raccoon and many loyal fans! You probably wondered where I went after my retirement world tour, crack binge leading to rehabilitation, resurgence in the paparazzi, photo shoots with Christian Bale, and eventual clambering back into to the studio for another shot at the top of the charts. But wonder no more!
None of that is true. But the following is the real deal!
I wanted to let you know that my very first CD, titled Nathan Hall + David Bernabo, is hot off the presses and available for purchase. I'm very proud of this album, which has been a collaboration with a very fine guitarist/musician/artist extraordinaire. It was a practically painless process from the outset of rehearsals of my compositions to Dave's improvisations over top, to the typesetting of the package (I did the inside and the collage on the cover, and Dave did the outside text and back!). Brandon also deserves thanks for helping me find Library of Congress subject headings for the inside 'slide cards', which reference the topics of each instrumental piece. But that's a lot nerdy, isn't it?There are six tracks for $8 (or $10 if I ship it to you), for a total of just over a half an hour of listening delights inspired by David's and my love of the ecm record label. It's famous for its quiet music and nocturne-like jazz albums, and I think you can hear the similarities on first listen, though multiple listens should reveal a little of my personality and a little of Dave's avant-improvisational skills mixed together.

The release is a limited edition, and will be available on CDBaby and the album's record label, Abstract On Black, sometime soon. For now, of course, if you'd like the album, you can just email me, send me a check and you'll be on your way to guitar/piano/wurlitzer/vibraphone/improvisation/nighttime bliss.

Dave and I are also having a CD release concert May 21st so you can hear the songs in real-life, real-people, real folk-pop opening band times. If you're in the Pittsburgh area, you should come.

The processes of recording and releasing music still amazes me., it is an entirely different animal than just performing and composing (which I'm so much more comfortable with than the business side of music). Certainly this is a smaller scale than a major-label global distribution, but in a way that lets me know just how many steps go into making a recording, and I can be a part of each of those steps. I'm still shocked that I'm holding a CD in my hands that has my name on it! Next on the road of recording, maybe within two years? Midnight Shoveler's greatest hits.

Musical Interlude: Walking the Line

Time for some saccharine self-reflection!
My musical output thus far has often walked a fine line – somewhere between the wafting of chamber pop while still grasping for higher Music (with a capital M). This presents a problem in academia. Music institutions accept composers who write 'academic' music that challenges the mind and furthers composition as an art form. Yet, part of the composer's job (if he or she is able to accomplish it) is to make their voice fresh and unique, possibly bring recognition to an academic program, as well as, if they're very lucky, bread to the table. Suffice it to say, many young composers have found themselves in a headlock between imitating classical role models (not very original), and say, playing original music in a rock band (songs about giraffes in parallel fourths, anyone?) whose music doesn't pretend to transcend anything. Many of my works are somewhere in a vague-middle-crossover area. (And no, I don't mean Il Divo.)

For example, I've written a great piece for two french horns and piano which is challenging but idiomatic, spunky yet dynamic. It also has fragments from Radiohead songs embedded in it and incorporates bag of broken glass played with drumsticks. So where does this piece fall? Is it academically 'acceptable'? Is it Art Music? Is it too much like a cover song? I feel that it's a misfit in both the academic and the popular music worlds.

All this confusion sometimes leaves me frustrated. I shouldn't be writing music to cater to an institution's particular academic standards just to win acceptance in that crowd. But I also want to have a real career in music, and receiving academic critique inspires me to work harder.

I could make a decision never to think about going into academia, but the biggest roadblock lies in the fact that I think I could make an excellent teacher for composition students. I've wanted to teach for a few years now. And while I may not be the most famous composer, let's not forget there are often differences between a famous composer and a good composition teacher – not always one in the same.

A colleague of mine was kind enough to say that he felt that my music has one of the most unique voices he's heard, which approaches music from many different and personal angles in its creation, while still managing to be personally identifiable.

I also received interesting advice from one young, now famous, composer. He wrote to me saying to not go back to school. Instead, I was to find the craziest musicians and artists around and perform, write, collaborate, and write, write, write! Anything in academia, he stated, would always be viewed as academic. However, anything I did on my own could be made exactly the way I wanted it, which is truly original – perhaps lacking funding, resources, and audiences, but original all the way.

Writing good music takes skill, training, and time, no matter what type of music it is. Steve Reich left academia but spends his days thinking about music, and he's now praised by his scholarly colleagues for his Pulitzer-Prize winning work. The same goes for Phillip Glass. Will composers who write infectious, hip chamber music or rock-based violin loops be looked upon in future years with the same critical praise? I hope so, but the collegiate world may never quite catch up to what's happening outside of university walls.

Until the day comes when I am some tenured professor or sought-after composer, I'll try to write what challenges me, and what I enjoy doing in the process (and maybe also hope that some part of my music pays a bill every now and then). Admittedly, it's also time to try my hand at something totally different this summer; I want to prove to myself that I can write intricate, brainy music that may not be my personal preference or a part of my identifiable aesthetic, but will be good, solid music.

Cookie Monster Model

Okay, now Cookie, you're going to stand here and pretend you're the letter F in front of this brooding model. Fur is the new skin, people! And Monster with No Name (who are you, anyway?), you're going to pet his titties. Beautiful! Work it, people, work it, I'm loving it! Give me more! Now Vogue!

Guy in armpit

This is a very important collage, done circa 1999. I'm sure it will be remembered long after I'm gone for its ingenious use of scale and proportion. Look at how that model uses another model as an armpit crutch! That's what you're allowed to do when you're rich and fashionable.
What you can't see was the high-heeled shoe on the right was attached to a head of Britney Spears (but no body, just a head coming out of a leg), and also somehow the head of Patrick Swayze was attached in there too. But I had to do some serious cropping to get the armpit shot into view.
This also probably infringes on copyright by using pictures of models without any kind of creative manipulation to the images. Way to go, me! I'm so creative it hurts sometimes.

Piano lessons

I've been teaching an 8-year old beginner's piano lessons since July or so; it's great to see her progress, though sometimes frustrating when I don't know whether to babysit her or try and teach her about dynamics, or if I run out of ways to describe what an octave is. I think she secretly soaks up everything I say, though, as sometimes if she plays something screwy one week, she'll play it near perfectly the very next week and I'll know she was listening.

I'm also glad to see that she wants to be creative with music, so sometimes we'll make up improvisations, or write "songs" together. Once she wrote a song all by herself (and notated it!) and it was called Fiesta. She even remembered to put in a time signature, though none of the measures had anywhere near the right number of notes (nor were barlines relatively vertical, but we're working on it).

Today we had to stop the lesson a little early as I just couldn't get her to focus on the song at hand–she was just too excited about writing a song down on some manuscript paper I copied for her. The song is to be called A Day in Life and the Times of Egypt. Her mom asked her to do something else, but she snapped back, "But I forgot to put in my staccato markings!!"
And that's when I teared up a little inside with composer's pride.

Washington DC Cherry Blossoms

Last weekend I went to Washington DC for a friends' wedding and I also experienced the Cherry Blossom Festival at its peak. The wedding was as beautiful as the blossoms.
There were also plenty of places to pee. This particular row of portable toilets adds a nice contrast to the delicacy of those light pink flowers sort of obscured in the distance.

Quilted 23-ply Toilet Paper

Made with actual quilts!
(Click on the image to enlarge.)

Crazy People on the Bus

Boyfriend and I took the bus to and from a friends' house last night and every part of the trip had eventful commuters.
1. Guy on the bus who told someone that he tried lighting a cigarette while wearing an oxygen breathing tube, and lit his nose on fire.
2. Drunk men trying to walk to their car, but fighting (almost too scarily) the whole way, turning around, throwing their hands up, walking back to the bar in anger, and turning around again to walk back toward the car. Repeat 10 times.
3. Drunk girl on the way home shouting "I'm going to karate chop her in the nose! I'm going to karate chop her in the throat!"
Always a good time on mass transit.

Album

I'm pleased to announce that David Bernabo and I may be releasing an album sometime soon! I say may be as we don't know the release date, and don't have the CD's in our hands. So it's kind of tentative but more definite than anything I've ever attempted releasing in the past, for certain. The material is recorded and edited, and ready for mastering. The CD which you can possibly own yourself will have six tracks, five of them being based on through-composed pieces that I wrote over the last few years, and the talented Mr. Bernabo improvised on guitar over top of them. And one bonus improv! (Fancy.) Dave and I also edit the tracks together, and added some extra instrumental parts as well. All together there are appearances by piano, interior piano strings, guitar, vibraphone, bass drum, suspended cymbal, wurlitzer keyboard, and a deconstructed zither (natch). What a nice little company! I'm working now on designing some interior notes for the album, and the cover may be based on a collage I did of squares of paper from a slide library. Dave is also working on an illustration for the liner notes, and will be designing the exterior typography. How about that for total collaboration?
When I graduated from CMU my graduating bio stated that I hope to stay in Pittsburgh and collaborate with local artists and musicians, rather than be holed away without creative options or move away someplace else. I think I've begun to accomplish my "mission" without even realizing it. And it's fun. We like fun.

New Necklaces

I managed to acquire something magical: all the threads from an artist's work at Mattress Factory, which amounts to spools and spools of thin sewing thread. The installers were kind enough to try and bundle it up as best as they could when they took down the piece, rather than just wad everything up (which probably would be cool too, but this is more useful).
I'm looking to make a bunch of crazy nekkpieces with it, maybe keeping one really simple and just tying it off and the others can get really snarled and tangled. The first one I made is pink! I crocheted a wire background and stuffed a bunch of threads through, and then added a few crystal beads from a formerly tacky old-lady necklace. It's a little ticklish and not really meant for wearing to the grocery store, but I would be proud of whoever would wear it with their everyday clothes.
I also borrowed some Huge Ass Crochet Hooks from a friend (she says size Q, but I don't know what that means in crochet-world sizes), and made a much more normal necklace, which I might try to sell if I can make a couple of them. They also make good artsy eye-patches, for pirates who wish to see out of both eyes.

Shirt Dress

Thank heavens I don't work in clothing retail. I'm all for pushing the boundaries of fashion, but sometimes girls' spring fever can get a little ridiculous.

Braces, Carmina Burana

I got braces! I am strapped into these sexy babies for the next 10 months. I had been thinking about getting them for, oh, the last fifteen years. I guess there's no time like the present now that I can make my own decisions and do it for myself. I will also be better than my 13-year-old self at wearing a retainer so they don't go back to their old habits of some in front, some in back. As Sally said, "it's gonna be so great...when it's all over." Luckily I don't have to have them on as long as I anticipated, as my teeth aren't totally snaggly (yet); the price not as expensive (though the option for Les Invisilignes state-of-the-art transparent braces was completely out of the question due to exorbitant price); and the orthodontist made the top ones clear for the same price as the normal bottom row. The weirdest part is relearning how to eat without much use of my front teeth, and dealing with some temporary bumps put on my molars, which prevent some teeth from touching each other. It's a time-out for you, bicuspids.

Cuckolds ended up going very well, and I even got a shout-out in Pittsburgh's City Paper. And I quote: "...Cuckolds offers spectacle...Nathan Hall's original score keeps the tone peppy." They asked for peppy and that is what they got! And on the final night there was a standing ovation for everyone, which was awesome that the audience liked the production so much! My favorite music in the movements ended up being repeated a few times, which can be heard on my website here (simply click on the London Cuckolds for the audio sample and don't forget to adjust the volume). It's a short scene change for bassoon, pizz strings, and tambourine. Peppy, indeed.

I also sang Carmina Burana with the Symphony and Mendelssohn Choir two weekends ago. It was the first time I ever did more than the "O Fortuna" movement. The piece really grew on me, especially after reading about the organization of the piece literally according to the Wheel of Fortune (not the Vanna kind). This which is why several movements suddenly go from violent percussion clangs and blaring brass to love songs and sweet dolce strings, and then back again, all within the same section. Or emotionally, from "joy to bitterness, hope to grief" (says wikipedia) and back again. Several of the movements that I hadn't paid much attention to in the past really grew on me, especially the songs with the baritone solos (and falsetto). But the best part was getting to sing great men's parts and shout "Hei!" and "Na Za Za!" and "Io!" a lot. Through my braces.

Picture right: Braces. Sexy, non? I'd make out with me.

Opening Scene to Cuckolds

Thanks to the joys of Youtube, we can now view the dress rehearsal of Cuckolds, which is a 2-minute overture I wrote and arranged, and was choreographed! The only thing I didn't write was the ass-slapping.

Go see Cuckolds before it's over! The last show is this Saturday at 8pm. I'm really pleased at how it turned out- they pumped up the bassoon jams in it too!

Cuckolds video promo

Promo video for the play, which opens in sneak preview tonight. I wrote this little musical ditty, and I'm playing harpsichord (somewhat badly) too!


CMU School of Drama Presents: The London Cuckolds! from The London Cuckolds on Vimeo.

London Cuckolds Opening

Tonight marks the premiere of the CMU Drama School performance run of The London Cuckolds, to which I've recorded the incidental music. It's been a while since I've handed over my work to the sound designers, and I just couldn't stand waiting for Saturday afternoon when I could get to see the show, so I snuck in late last night and peeked in on the dress rehearsal. I got to see the Grand Finale music and the curtain call, and I couldn't be happier! The sets are beautiful, the lighting is suptuous, and I think the performance is going to be hilarious. But I wasn't there for the acting, per se...I was spying on my music, which blossomed in just the right place and surrounded the theater with sound.

I know the music is incidental. They don't call it that for nothin'- you could take it out and you'd still have a play. Nevertheless, I worked closely with the faculty to create music that (I hope) has become the foundation from where the play can take off. It's a period piece, written in the 17th century, but certain liberties have been taken with language, costumes, humor, etc. to make it more accessible (and knowing Drama students, scantily-clad). Likewise, the music sounds Baroque, as it was taken from Scarlatti Sonatas, but every now and then it's "tarted up" a bit with modern harmonies, and a certain sense of humor that still sounds like I could have written it. There should also be a dance choreographed to the music at the very opening, and a tiny song in the middle faked on the harpsichord. It's about pussycats...sort of. I don't write the wordz, I just sets 'em.

If the music in the final scene is any indication of how the rest of the pieces will sound, I think this could be one of the best showcases of my work, ever! Writing the music wasn't too difficult once I understood what the drama department was looking for. I'm also guessing that if I ever do another theater production, other departments will not be as intuitive about what they want to receive-I think this was a very cooperative collaboration!

This is the first music I've written for a production, and the biggest ensemble I've led, and the biggest audience that will be listening to it (albeit inactively). Even better was the fact that it's the first music I've gotten compensated for writing. A little daunting, in hindsight.
Certainly I owe many thanks to everyone involved! But let's not thank everyone yet...at least not until I see the whole thing on Saturday. Fingers crossed.

Come see The London Cuckolds!
Feb 19-28
Shows Tuesday-Friday at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm.
Call the CMU Drama School box office for tickets 412-268-2407.
(CMU School of Music students get in for free, thanks to a generous offer by the School of Drama.)

Basic plot, cast, and info can be found here.

I hope you enjoy the show!

Stravinsky Box Set

Igor Stravinsky is all up in my grill like never before. Thanks to Alex Ross, who gave the heads-up, I now own almost the complete œuvre of Stravinsky in one 22-CD box set. And thanks to the British across the seas at amazon.co.uk, it was only $30.00!! If I did the math right, that's just over $1 per CD, and I can't even find that kind of a deal on classical music even in the bargain bins with all the vomitous "Mozart for Lovers" CD's. And despite a delay in shipping, I received the box set within 7 business days. The set contains all the recordings he did in the 1950's for Sony, plus additional recordings by his protege Robert Craft, and recordings of Stravinsky interviews. And the recordings are beautiful; you would never guess they were a half-century old or more. According to amazon, there are only a few small number of pieces missing from his complete works, including Stravinsky's version of the Star-Spangled Banner (oh, snap). I haven't checked my Eric Walter White book to cross-reference (file under: nerdy!), but I can't imagine there's much missing.
I obviously have only made the smallest dent in the collection. So far I've listened to his 3 symphonies, and his series of Miniature pieces, and I had to listen to Circus Polka, which was written for a real-live choreographed dancing elephant. It's not performed much, though I can't imagine why. I'm moving onto ballets/suites I have never heard, like Agon, Card Game, and The Fairy's Kiss.
This could be tremendously helpful as a musician- not only if I ever have to teach, but if I ever am curious about a particular work, I'll have the composer's preferred recording at my fingertips! I'm looking forward to playing the guessing game of "Which Stravinsky Period Did this Piece Come From?". "French-tastic folklore"? "Neoclassic refinement-slash-Fascism"? Or "religiously serialist/serialistly religious"? Try it at parties. It'll be a huge hit. Or you'll end up with more cake and wine for yourself later. Either way you win.
Here's hoping someone will pull an all-day Stravinsky marathon and listen to all of his recorded works in sequential order.

photo courtesy http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/stravinsky.html. unknown origin but a nice van gogh behind the composer. Stravinsky is saying, "I don't know about those brushstrokes, but I do like that hat."

New York City

I splurged early in 2009 and I made a weekend trip to New York City to see friends and concerts. Luckily the concerts and lodging were all free! I met up with my high school friend Ben, who now lives in Manhattan, and we saw the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic being conducted by Keith Lockhart. We heard Mahler Symphony No. 1, also known as one of the few pieces Mahler wrote that's not about hellfire, the depths of despair, or the deaths of children.
Ben has beautiful dishware including triangular plates!New York is full of exciting architecture. This building has a lovely Helvetica (or almost Helvetica, the 'e' looks a little funny, no?) sign on it letting me know that the building's sole job is to suck air.
Then Ben and I met my friend Nicole for brunch and had multiple orange juices (I got two accidentally not knowing my food already came with some.)
I went to the Guggenheim Museum for the first time! The exhibit inside was good, but the outside had a little installation of its own made with shadows from the buildings around it. Also, the Guggenheim has only single-occupancy bathrooms. They're on every floor, but only one tiny door lets you know it's there. It makes it seem as if people in the 1940's didn't have to pee as much.
As if the weekend wasn't busy enough, I then travelled by train up to Poughkeepsie and saw a performance of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians with my friend Kelly, and the composer was in attendance. He's the composer-in-residence at this year's Modfest at Vassar, and I got to meet him! I couldn't get a picture, but the performance was amazing, and I now know that you can use more than 18 musicians for the piece, 'cause some of them may need a break.

Now that I'm back in Pittsburgh, I had a bunch of rehearsals and music events yesterday, and seeing how it was unseasonably warm I decided to walk most everywhere. Then B and I went dancing in Lawrenceville, and walked most of the way there and all the way back. I clocked my mileage this morning and I walked 9.82 miles yesterday. My thighs hurt.

Lips as Umbrella, Cameldog on Volkswagon

An oldie but a weirdie: a collage comic that could only be explained with Surrealism or crack, and I've never done crack.

Fast Openings

I'm finishing up a piece for two French horns and piano for a friend/colleague Katie's recital in March. Chamber music for horn & piano abounds, but I don't know if there's much out there for two horns, which is a trial in middle-range tonal blurriness (I'm trying hard to avoid monotony). My piece is a mini-narrative of the hornist's coming-of-age of sorts, and also rewrites a couple of Radiohead melodies-- a bit unexpected in classical horn repertoire. Also, the second horn may or may not play a bag of silverware and broken glass shards.

I'm excited to premier this piece. I think it will be a great performance, but I've also come to realize that most of my music begins slowly, and this is the first work to break out of that habit. The spark of realization came from an interview at Indiana University, when one of the professors pointed out that to get accepted into Indiana I would have to write some "tonally aggressive, hard-edged music". Well, I didn't get accepted anyway, and that's their loss. But something positive came from that interview, in that I suddenly saw myself lacking works that began with a good kick in the pants. And perhaps they could go somewhere else during the piece, tempo-wise (the french horn piece is more like fast-slow-fast) but there's no reason why I can't try some crazy opening bars. In fact, almost every one of my works begins slowly, or at least sort of ambiently, except for some pop tunes.

I don't know if this is a result of my personality, or habits of composing. I'm certainly a pretty calm person, and for years now I'm drawn to slow-tempo classical music, that of John Luther Adams, Arvo Part, Takemitsu. And to minimalism, which isn't always that slow, but can often seem "out of time". Perhaps it's a refusal to give in to fast-paced living and take time out for a contemplative experience. Brandon and I were talking the other day about music which resonates in us: some people get all a-quiver for Stockhausen and some feel the vibes of Debussy, and perhaps that's one of the many reasons that music is so personal and subjective. In other words, why music=awesome. And despite listening to a lot of quiet slow music, I love dance parties, so why don't I try writing more dance party jams?

Working on this piece has been a big help in me thinking of other things besides slowly-shifting gauzy tonalities: I'm more curious in this piece about off-kilter rhythms, combined with sort-of-singable melodies and a hott left hand line in the piano. I'm less concerned about the chords lining up, or whether this random F-sharp will fit in with this horn line. I think my music could get really interesting if I could write intricate fast music and crazy rock and roll chamber music along with other Impressionistic passages; the combination of the two could be exciting. Also, on a less intelligent note, I read two different horoscopes for my sign this week and they both said essentially to Embrace the Raucous. I better do what they say.

Oh, and if you say I need some more tonally-challenging music, you might get arm clusters. Just so you know.

Jackson Pollock Nativity Scene

I made a nativity scene for Sally in the style of Jackson Pollock. That way you can have your Christmas miracle and your action painting too, without having to give up Clement Greenberg for the Magi. I also finally got a picture of my mid-century modern dentist's office, which was made only a few years ago. It was basically the main reason I went to that dentist (and it lived up to its expectations). The typography is so good. Also, who doesn't love addresses that are (number) and one-half?Also, I got to sing in the Pittsburgh debut of John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls, featuring the Pittsburgh Symphony, a childrens' choir, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, and electronic tape soundtrack. Then Sally and I met John Adams, and he was totally charming and genuine and happy! Especially for being, oh, you know, the preeminent living American composer of our time (sorry Carter, you're just so a hundred years old). Adams can also feel lucky: he now posesses a signed copy of a photo of me and Sally, which we gave to him in exchange for his autograph on our box sets of his work. My family and friends came to visit for the performance and it went really well!

BUS STP SCHDLS TXTS

I was waiting for a bus at the IKEA the other day and wondered when the heck it would arrive. I noticed a new sign was bolted to the bus stop sign which had a number you could text, and then you'd text the particular code of the bus stop you were waiting at to get arrival times of the next buses. Much to my suprise it worked, and gave me several options of buses that would arrive. And sho' nuff, the 28x arrived exactly when it said it would, and I didn't have to wait in the snow for longer than I had to. And doubly lucky that I was right next to the land of Swedish happiness, so I had nothing to fear.
Now if Pittsburgh could get the other 99% of buses to run on time, and then put up TXT signage, I would never have to fear I would be stranded somewhere for 45 minutes in the cold. Hooray.

2008 Wrap-Up, Happy New Year

2008 Highlights.

2008 was a pretty good year, all things considered (economic and otherwise). I happily told people that because artists never have any money to begin with, the shock of losing all the stocks we never had seemed less shocking. Here are some of my random moments, in no particular order, all to have happened in 2008.

-Premier of my orchestra piece, and reading by the Pittsburgh Symphony

-Getting my first paid commission for writing music

-Getting strep throat twice (maybe thrice by the end of the year, oh, to be so lucky)

-gay mansion

-Midnight Shoveler's performance with guests
-making music with Wungsten

-meeting composers John Corigliano and John Adams, and percussionist Evelyn Glennie

-Getting hired at Mattress Factory and getting health insurance (and dental!)

-Using my dental insurance to fill cavities

-Boston, Washington DC, Bloomington IN, and Niagara Falls visits

-MIDI interface finally working on my keyboard

-Visiting Fallingwater for the first time

-selling jewelry

-Seeing the Pittsburgh 250th Anniversary fireworks from a rooftop
-um, Barack was elected president, and he uses great typography
-joined Mendelssohn choir and started teaching piano lessons
-concerts: Iron & Wine, Railroad Earth, Now Ensemble, my first professional opera (The Grapes of Wrath)

I'm sure I've forgotten to list plenty of other things, too. I hope those moments won't feel left out.

In 2009 I'd like to travel somewhere far away again. I have a friend in Germany and a friend in Montana, both places I've never been and would love to go (and I once made a vow that I would take shameless advantage of the exotic locations where I knew people). I would also like to get a date. I promise I won't slurp my spaghetti.






(Photos: Top: not me. source unknown. Second from top: me. indiana university museum of art. Second from bottom: a mustache that lasted for five seconds. Bottom: keep it real in, 2009, okay?)

God Child

If you could imagine God as humanoid-like figure (as if Joan Osbourne didn't already do that for us in the '90's) what would he say if he were a child? Not yet fully matured? And if he spoke to some other God–I'm picturing two God-Children in a galactic sandbox–what would be the response?
"You think you're sooo special."
"Well...yes".

Or perhaps:
"Give me back that planet!"
"No! Getcha own! Okay, you can have the Asteroid Belt."

"I'm bored."
"Let's go swimming in the sea I just invented."

Or better, as teenagers:
"I had a great time six billion years ago. Why haven't you called me?"
"I'm sorry, I was busy creating the Heavens. What was your name again?"

Playlist Shuffle, Resolutions

Five songs on shuffle mode from my iTunes...

Orbital, "Funny Break" (from Work 1989-2002)
Erlend Oye, "Like Gold" (from the album Unrest)
Laverne Baker, "Smoke and Drink and Dance the Hoochie Coo" (I don't even know if that's the real title, and the album is unknown too)
Peaches, "Diddle My Skiddle" (from the album Fatherf*cker)
Christopher O'Riley, "Thinking About You" (from the album True Love Waits- O'Riley Plays Radiohead")

Finnish composer Rautavaara's "Vigilia" came on next but it didn't make the first-five cut. Who doesn't love a little sex-electroclash up against lush piano improvisations next to modernist scandinavian choral music? With a little nordic dance break in there somewhere too. Shuffle features make me realize I have so much music I only know on the surface level, and that I should take away everything I currently listen to and replace it with oddities every once and a while just to freshen the ears.

I made three New Years' Resolutions of sorts for 2008, and they all have come true, with qualifiers. Well, they weren't absolute resolutions, more like goals.
1. sell something from having a website. This sort of came true as one of my old college friends emailed me and wanted a collage triptych for her new place in Arizona. It's happening right now!
2. get one paid commission. This sort of came true with the Drama School production for incidental music. Technically it was through Carnegie Mellon, but it was a hired gig nonetheless.
3. sell my jewelry or art at Handmade Arcade. This didn't happen, but I did sell my jewelry at another craft fair, Sweetwater Center for the Arts. So I count it anyway.

Next year my resolutions should include getting married. So when it doesn't happen exactly like that, at least I can qualify it by saying I went out on a good date or two...but we talked about other people's marriages, and how I would rather spend the money on a big party, and besides, it's illegal in most states right now anyway. It's good to qualify.

More jewelry

While I sold a couple pairs of earrings at Sweetwater Center for the Arts, I still have lots of pairs available should anyone want to snag up a pair for holiday gifts...you know your loved ones would look good in some chandelier crystals, or globular clusters, or lime green daggers. Just let me know if you're interested and we'll tawk.

King of Kings, Lord of Lords

I made this quick "poster" for the holiday season, just for grins. It's a total knockoff of Warhol, and I don't have the typeface Din which would look awesome on this, but it only took a few minutes and Jesus looks pretty awesome there in hot pink. If this was an ad for a holiday church service I'd be there with bells on. And by bells I mean bellbottoms. Click image to enlarge.

London Cuckolds recording session

A couple pictures from the recording session to the CMU School of Drama's spring play, The London Cuckolds. It was very early in the morning, hence the picture where everyone's asleep. We had to tip the harpsichord on its side to get into the recording studio (thanks to about five extra sets of hands) but we managed to wrangle it in, record in record time, and the music should be edited and ready in about a week!

November dentists, jewelry, operas

November has been full of surprises. I went to the dentist today and I am bummed that I have a cavity which will need to be filled. On the other hand, I have been cavity-free for twenty years! That's a pretty good track record. I chose the dentist because his office is super close to my apartment, but it's also in a really great retro building with great a midcentury-modern sign. Indeed, the interior is funky too. And the staff includes a hilarious lesbian dental hygienist. She told me, "I can't cook for sh*t, but I'm a total gay man when it comes to decorating". They also have a resident huge dog that wanders the office, but the dentist said nobody is allowed to pet it until the end of the day. Thank goodness. No dog germs in mouths allowed.

I got some of my jewelry accepted into the Holiday mART at Sewickly, PA's Sweetwater Center for the arts. I made a mix of funk and traditional things in hopes I could make a little cash and raise some money for their arts programs. Here's some samples.
I recorded the music to the Drama School's spring play, The London Cuckolds, and it's being edited now. I think it's going to sound great in the space of the theatre, and I can't wait to see the show go up. I was surprised that the editing is going so smoothly. The engineer is able to speed up some movements slightly without sounding distorted, which I think will give the scene changes an extra boost of vivacity.

I'm feeling pretty good about feeling like I have a direction in life, which includes eventually teaching music, hopefully specifically composition. Though other projects may happen in the meantime, I think it's the first time in my life where I'm able to feel like I'm not wishywashy about what I'd like to do for a long period of time. It feels pretty solid. Just in time for my five-year college reunion this summer.

I was also asked to join my friend in seeing The Grapes of Wrath, a new opera by Ricky Ian Gordon that played in Pittsburgh for the last two weeks. I really enjoyed it; it was my first professional opera experience and I'm glad it was 1. accessible, 2. theatrical, and 3. in English. There was also a great harmonica part in the orchestra. I had met the composer last year, and it was great to hear his personal perspective on writing the work and its drawn-out revision process. There was one ridiculously over-choreographed scene, but the rest of the 3 hours went by quickly (thank you to whoever included a men's shower scene with a real working shower). I also teared up twice, as well is to be expected in Grapes– like the book, the opera don't end so hot. The orchestration also thins out to nothing by the end of the opera, with a silent curtain call, and it is very effective.
Opera is not my genre of choice- I know little about it and I've only recent come to understand more fully why the music and actors interpret it differently than musical theatre or art song. I feel like I'm ready for a more "classical" opera performance. But I will not be ready for any Wagner any time soon.

Rothko Veggies

Sublime painting by Mark Rothko:
Chopped up vegetables in a curry I once made:

Coincidence? I think not. Art is everywhere!

French Toe Sticks vs. French Toast Sticks

It's easy to get them confused. Here is a helpful diagram so you can learn which is the accoutrement pour le pied, and which is breakfasty deliciousness.