Clear the Aria!

Grunehilda in her Broadway debut: Zing! Went the Rivets of my Breastplate.

Art Unnoticed

It's like that old saying... "You know you work at a contemporary art museum when...
...when a giant 12-foot tall, 10-foot wide winter parka is resting casually over the handrail, and no one notices anything out of the ordinary."
Is it a large-scale replica of a winter coat? Part of avant-garde fashion? Or a jacket for giants?

Hazy Collage

I made a new collage! It's untitled, but the inspiration began with the hazy background squares in the upper left. In a way, the work is also a response to a CD that I've been loving, by the artist M83. I just got the CD for my birthday (thanks, Cassandra!) and I love the autumnal-looking nostalgic photography. The new album is called, appropriately, Saturdays=Youth. This collage reminds me of the cooler, hazier parts of summer, and coincidentally, also of my childhood. As a kid, I would play outside in the woods, finding interesting plants and twigs and making houses under the branches of low trees. We have a creek at home and to this day I find old pieces of bottles and mugs half-buried in the creek bed and I save them. Perhaps that's why the cut-out of the ceramic sieve found its way in there. Or perhaps I just needed something white to balance out that hot pink thing.

Some collages that I make for myself never turn out as good as the things I make for other people. But with this work I was determined to just enjoy whatever became of it. I tried to use both torn papers and cut papers together, in geometric shapes and abstract shapes. I noticed that in previous collages I've really stuck with geometry- squares on squares, straight lines, et cetera. Who doesn't love a good grid? But I think I can do more interesting things when I add strategically-placed blobs, or layers of photographs, and underlying layers. There's also some windshield glass and actual pebbles from Boston Harbor thrown (glued?) in there for good measure.

Mattress Factory

I landed a real job! I am now the Administrative Assistant at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh. And no, we definitely do not sell mattresses, though the building is indeed a converted old mattress factory. I'm excited for the job, which starts on Tuesday, and I'm hoping that I'll settle into it easily and not make too many mistakes. I'm also excited about having health insurance. And dental! Clean teeth are a-comin'. My work hours are the same as business hours, which is good because I can still have weekends and evenings to do my art and music stuff
I'm really hoping that the Port Authority bus system does not go on strike like it is purportedly going to do next week because I'll be one of 600,000 people who needs to take the bus to get to work every day! The commute should be between 40-65 minutes, which is a lot more than I would like, but the transit people tell me there's two ways to get there so I'll see which one is faster and more reliable.
I'm also excited to be a part of this museum because along with their great mission, maximally hip staff, and rotating installations, they also have several permanent works, including this awesome room covered in mirrors, dots, and mannequins that you can walk into (with sock booties on). Why, you ask? Because Yayoi Kusama says so. You've got to see it for yourself.

Goodbye Pencil Sharpener

This weekend my favorite pencil sharpener (Did know you could have a favorite pencil sharpener? Well, you can, so now you know.) broke, and it had been with me, faithfully sharpening #2's since second grade. It was pink. Now the one I'm using is my fifth grade pencil sharpener, which is black, so I hope he's happy now that he's promoted after all these years.
Rest in peace, ol'sharpener! (More like rest in pieces, at the bottom of my trash bin.)

Cartoony Pants- The Sequel

A colleague in the music office liked my collage Cartoony Pants so much that she commissioned me for Cartoony Pants Part Deux! Nothing quite compares to the original, because how can you ever use the same pieces of paper over again when they're all found from magazines and clippings and old books? But I attempted a similar feel, this time with a frame with a depth of about 1.5". I also ran the images over the sides, including a lobster, whose claw you can only see poking out from the left-hand side, and a wierd Hungarian folksong that went something like "if you don't know how fat a mosquito is you are dumb as a horse, dumb as a horse, oh". Snappy tune. I think it turned out pretty great. I love that the pants are leaping over paper clips, and out of its backside comes a giant speech bubble.

As much as feels strange and frustrating to transition out of grad school and into a working world again (though I don't quite know what I'm doing yet) it also feels good to do things other than music all day! I've had more time to read actual books and make collages again. And on Labor Day, I can relax and write this post. I ran into a British man on the street this morning who asked me directions to the coffeeshops near me. He wondered why the streets were so quiet and everything was closed today, and assumed it was a national holiday or something. He doesn't usually get the pleasure of Labor Day, but then again, I don't get the pleasure of Guy Fawkes Night. Or being British, for that matter. Bollocks.

What Technology Refuses, Humans Do

The music office closet where I used to work was previously a copy machine closet. I would joke that the copy machine overheated, so the school put people in there instead. It was almost as if the copier demanded better working conditions. Now it sits in a beautiful, bright, air-conditioned office with plants and a sofa, and four graduate students staff the closet space.
Well, that copier was pretty smart.
I'm at my new job and I continue to enter data mindlessly. I also realized that I'm doing the work which could easily be done by a computer. Except that the computer thought the work was too boring, and spit all the information back out, and told the humans to do it themselves.

First day of temping

This might not have been how the actual conversations went today, but you get the jist.

Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh

I made it through my first "Retreat" practice with The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh today, marking my first singing with a real choir in almost exactly seven years! It was exhilarating, and I like a lot of the people there. I'm singing some sweet low Bass parts. We also did some Dalcroze Eurythmics. I'm most excited to be a part of John Adams' work, On the Transmigration of Souls, his gorgeous and haunting "memory space" response to 9/11.
Speaking of quotation marks, I also start a new "job" on Monday, as my last day in the music office was Friday. Sniffle...but also, hooray! I don't have to deal with some of those (unnamed) divas ever again. And I will be back to visit, as I'm writing the incidental music to one of the Drama School plays in February.
I start temping for two weeks, and/or until a "real" job may materialize for me downtown, which I'm really hoping will happen soon. But after hoping that I'd have a few days of pseudo-vacation while I look for work, I was psyched up for some relaxing, and I wish I was inside this collage right now! Perhaps I'd be enjoying cucumber sandwiches on a boat in the Bahamas, surrounded by a coral reef of precious stones. While butterflies waft by. That's one good way to enjoy unemployment. I made the collage for Kate, for whom it is totally suited.

In other news, Amy has an amazing steamer/wardrobe trunk in her apartment which she found on the street and it has a tag inside of it from its previous owner. The man, Percival Hunt, checked into the Pittsburgh Sports club exactly 100 years and 10 days ago. That's luggage longevity.

In other other news, I bought for the first time a pair of pants size 32 waist. I've been a slim 29 or 30 waist for 15 years! I think the one pair is a bit of an anomaly, but I can actually notice my body type changing. A little more hip fat, a little more arm muscle, but hopefully no beer belly any time soon.

Cathedral Disturbances

A performance of mine from this summer is now on Youtube, thanks to the Alia Musica director Federico Garcia and his technical prowess. My original idea for the work was the feeling of being in a quiet cathedral, and someone disturbs the peace (i.e. the piccolo, obviously). Squabbles ensue. But as arguing never gets anywhere, all the congregation decides to have a dance party. Or something like that. It's scored for piccolo, soprano and baritone saxophones, violin, cello, and piano. Many thanks to Alia Music Pittsburgh for requesting a piece just for them. Check it out!

Shoveler concert a success!

Saturday night I unveiled the latest Midnight Shoveler concert, featuring some of my favorite musicians, Mark, Sally, Rich, and Liz. My parents also surprised me with a visit! The turnout was awesome- thank you to everyone who came and showed their support. I think my personal highlights were a jazz recomposition of "Papa Don't Preach" with drums and bass; using a megaphone for Sally's voicing of "Let It Be", and the encore, an accordion version of an art song I wrote called "How Can We Hear". The accordion belonged to my grandfather and it's on loan from my uncle, to whom it's willed. I think gramps would have been proud that it's getting some use. I don't think he'd appreciate my song about a one-night stand, though. Sorry, gramps.
The concert hall I played in was really lovely and reverberent, probably a bit too much so, but it also lent a version of the Beatles' "Blackbird" extra gorgeous spaciousness.
Afterward we enjoyed food and drink at a long table of friends, and this weekend my parents and I got to spend some quality time together walking around Squirrel Hill.
Now I'm coming down from the excitement and I have to face the fact that I'm only working for two more weeks and then possibly facing unemployment (well, probably temping, but it's not ideal) and a punch-to-the-gut's worth of loans. Luckily amidst those working woes I have an acceptance into Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh to be excited about, a commission for a two-clarinet chamber piece, typesetting projects for a little extra cash, and music to write for the School of Drama's play next winter! So why am I wasting time blogging? Back to work.

P.S. Anyone have Shoveler show pictures I could post?

Barkfest

This morning I almost put up a sign on my downstairs neighbor's door saying, "I'm so glad your annoying Bichon Frise has stopped its incessant barking! I think its neutering must have done it some good." But I realized it was because it and its owner moved out this morning! Hooray! Now I don't have to deal with its schizophrenic explosion every time someone walked down the sidewalk.
Then, what should happen not thirty seconds later, but a new dog and its owner moved in to a different apartment in my building, and it started barking from the back yard! I don't know what it is with my building and dogs. Will the barkfest never cease? If your dog barks that much, it should not live in my tiny tiny building, in a crowded neighborhood, with no place to run free. I'm praying that someone quiet moves in downstairs and spares me from Dolby 5.1 surround-sound yelping.
Pictured right: The culprit in question. From the I'm-disgusted-it-exists website Precious Pet Paintings.com.

Amy Winehouse

Meaningless celebrity update: I read on CNN this morning that the singer Amy Winehouse is only 24 years old. In fact, she's almost exactly a year younger than I. But why did I think she was at least 35? Oh, right.

Cool Ministers

I subbed as the pianist for two Lutheran Church services this weekend and I chatted with a very cool husband and wife minister team! The husband is totally batty. But in a good drinking buddy way. The female minister and I chatted for a bit in between services and she seems really cool, as she said she likes giving sermons because it gives her a chance to use "guerilla faith" and try and motivate people or inspire them. Well, it's a little sneaky sounding, but I don't think she has any intention of trying to convert me or anything. In fact, she added my name to some list of available musicians for hire within the church world. Maybe it'll result in some side gigs pounding out Joyful, Joyful a few more times. Cool with me.

The lady minister also said another thing which I admired, which was very plainly stating, "I don't shop." Not like "I don't buy groceries" or "I've worn the same worn-out shirt for 37 years" or anything, but in the context of "I don't fall into anything resembling consumer culture". And being a minister seems appropriate to that way of life. I oscillate between wanting to own every book and cd in existence, and then wanting to get rid of everything I own and live with my one book, one shirt, and one drinking glass elegantly arranged on the immaculate floor. But in any case, I think it's pretty awesome for someone in this age to admit without pretention, "I don't shop...I've been to Shadyside once, with all the fancy stores, but it was for a gift for someone."

Part-Time International Male Model

I can't believe I've neglected to mention that I've also become a part-time international male model. Semi-professional, of course. I'm looking for a part-time semi-professional agent.

A while back I posed for some photos that Sally took in an entry for exhibit at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. The exhibit was showcased as 'Uncensored!' and Sally's idea was to take several long panoramic (and vertical) photos and affix them to a spinning cylinder (actually a lazy susan), then encasing the cylinder in a box with a hole cut into it. The piece is titled 'Intimate View' and the viewer can only see a tiny fraction of the photo at one time, piecing together what the photo actually was without ever seeing it all at once.

I've included a photo for scale, and then a tiny photo of one of the interior views. Suffice to say being a show called 'uncensored' the photos were slightly scandalous, and NSFW, so they say on the internets. I, for one, was delighted to be a part of the experience, and I applaud most chances for people to have an excuse to be naked in the name of art. And hundreds of people saw Sally's work, which is great, ahem, exposure for her as an artist and photographer.

Now that the show is over, Sally has the box looming large on a table in her living room, allowing house guests to unsuspecting view my every thing.
I'm available for future photo shoots on a part-time basis, preferably at exotic international destinations.

Night Vision Composition

Rare footage of a composer in mid-composition, folks...you won't get to see this one very often. Look how he wears his music like a stole and hides from public view...Oh, and look over there, a zebra. Are they black with white stripes or white with black stripes? Maybe if we're lucky we'll see the wallaby today.
So I'm writing a piece for two clarinets, strings, and a bass drum, and I was having trouble "seeing" the piece as a whole even with a map drawn out and computer playback and all. Not a particularly good sign, but I'm trying a new kind of form, a quirky instrumentation, and some new polytonality as well, so I didn't expect a quick churning out of a piece. I wanted to see it printed out in long form, so I shoddily cut all the pages of the score up and taped them together. Well, the piece was a bit longer than I thought, so now I use it more like a scroll rather than a tapestry. Luckily it helped! And more edits can now be made.

Turkey Hunting Alarm Clock

In my parents' hunting catalogue there is an alarm clock for sale in the shape of a turkey, which, when time to get up, sounds an alarm with the "realistic" sounds of a rifle, and a bird scurrying off into the trees. I'm totally serious. Now I know nothing gets me going in the morning quite like gunshots next to my head, but this seems a little out of control. Then again, some hunters are out of control, camouflage-ing both their trucks and their tool boxes inside the truck beds. As if we couldn't see it driving down the highway the other day.
But what should really happen with the ideal turkey-hunting alarm clock is for a life-size shotgun to unfold out of the back end of the alarm clock and actually blow your turkey-shaped clock to smithereens each morning (well, just once, unless you have a good supply of crazy glue). This will certainly get you up on time without having to ever hit that pesky snooze button.

P.S. I know you want to go trademark this right now, 'cause it's a goldmine in product development. Well too bad, I totally call it.

10,000 page views!

Guys and gals, we're almost at 10,000 page views! 'Course, a lot of them are me checking my own blog, but that's not important! If you are the lucky person you should let me know. Prize for you!

Bloomington, Indiana

I went to Bloomington, IN. this past weekend and saw the music school there, but more importantly saw my good friend Gabe and his girlfriend Nathalie. They showed me around the city and we experienced many cuisines, bookstores, record stores, and watched movies. In essence, it was all I could hope for! We also went to a lake, which was supposed to have a beach, but with all of the midwest flooding that's happened recently, the sand was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was an underwater basketball hoop and this tree coming out of the lake waters. But don't you think this picture has a certain Rembrandt-y quality? The weather was a bit tumultuous but it looks great at this moment, the clouds reflecting in the water. Even that boat is Flemish school. You'd almost expect to find a skyline of Haarlem in the background. Yup, it's all Netherlandtastic except for the damp-looking grill in the middleground. That is very contemporary art of America, for barbecues are surely the installation art of the midwest.

Jerry's Records, Westminster Gold Genius

As a treat to myself for a teaching successful first piano lesson, I stopped into Jerry's Records in Squirrel Hill and discovered a vast cavern of literally millions of record albums. It was more than I could ever dream of. In fact, the classical albums alone take up an entire apartment-sized room, floor to ceiling.

I was looking for one record in particular, and thought I'd take a long shot at seeing if they had it. It's the Berlioz 'Romeo and Juliet' from the Westminster Gold collection, a record label in the 1970's that used humor and irreverence (while still maintaining great design work) for their classical album art. I'd been looking at this record on an online auction for over a year and it was about $25--more than I wanted to pay, but the image is so great I really debated it for a long time. But I found it at Jerry's! And I got it for $8, which I think was totally fair, even though I probably could have bargained. But it's totally worth it to keep them in existence!
Here is the full folio spread, in all its hilarious soft-focus glory.
Not only does it capture my interest in male nudes (and cute ones at that) but Romeo is wearing socks! When the album is closed, you think it will be the typical 'star-crossed lovers' shot and then the surprise gets you on the back. Brilliant!
They have many witty covers, one of which is this album for Flute and Harpsichord Sonatas. Think about it.
And then there are some simple yet effective beautiful designs, too. I especially like this cover for string quartets, with a clever allusion to literal string, but there are four hands working together to make their creation (Cat's Cradle). And in string quartets, the ensemble playing of all four musicians, rather than the individual players, creates the work. Also, the weight of the typefaces is always carefully chosen. It's a great package deal! I think that kind of clever design is totally missing in this modern age.