Eleanor & Hildegard featured on Catalan Radio

I got a twitter notification a few weeks back. Elionor d’Aquitània i Hildegarda de Bingen? La connexió es va produïr i el compositor @kevinefclark va recollir-la a una de les seves obres https://t.co/4lQ9aUYghb #inspiraciómedieval pic.twitter.com/M2OiufpmvU— SonsEdatMitjana (@SonsEdatMitjana) January 23, 2019 It was a bit of a surprise, but totally wonderful! A Catalan radio station had …

Video of Eleanor & Hildegard from King FM

When King FM broadcast Eleanor & Hildegard earlier this year, they made an awesome video. The video is only part of the piece, but it gives a great impression not just of the whole work, but also of how awesome Elspeth Davis, Tania Asnes, King FM, and The Sound Ensemble are. (p.s. if you’re in …

Eleanor and Hildegard premiering on King FM and in concert!

So I was having a beer with Elspeth Davis talking about how much we love The Lion in Winter. She asked me to write a piece about Eleanor of Aquitaine. I thought it would never happen. There isn’t a lot of good text from the period to use, and I’d want to build a character …

Premiere of Census Americans, setting a twitter bot to music

I’m really excited for this piece. It’s based on protest songs from the IWW songbook, a classic of political music, and A Twitter bot called Census Americans. The piece is being premiered by Con Vivo Music in September: Art Politic Friday, September 8, 2017 7:30 PM Jersey City, NJ (venue TBA) This piece started with …

The Burial of the Dead with The Sound Ensemble

Yes, that’s the same picture of The Sound Ensemble. Jim Holt is a good photographer. The concert is this Saturday, 7 PM, at the Chapel at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. You should come out and hear it. Here’s the Live Music Project listing with more details. I went to rehearsal last night for …

First Dorico Project and an Orchestra Performance

I just finished my first project with Dorico, and I want to tell you about it. It’s a new orchestration of The Burial of the Dead for The Sound Ensemble; the concert is on March 4 in Seattle. Come hear it. The photo above, taken by James Holt, is of Bobby Collins, the music director …

User Testing, Play Testing, and Composing Music

My friends who mastermind the arts salon/dinner party series With Interesting People were kind enough to let me run an experiment on their guests last night. (Btw, the photo is of dates stuffed with goat cheese and almonds, alongside some mango & persimmon, all drizzled with honey. The chef, Phil Lacey, is pretty darn good.) …

Awesome Premiere

I have now been described in print, in Dutch, without my having submitted a bio in any language. The venue for yesterday’s premiere of Finishing The Rose had very short notice that I was coming to the performance, and managed to sneak in a hastily written bio that they assembled themselves. In Dutch. I trust …

Finishing the Rose is Finished!

Thanks first to the commissioning consortium without whom this project wouldn’t have happened, and you wouldn’t have a chance to hear the piece performed so many times in the next year: Ian Richter Hanna Van Rooijen Zachary Herchen Elisabeth Halliday Ben Learish Sean Meyers Tyrone Page Ana Kupstas Thanks especially to Ian for being the …

Composing on Trello

I’ve never written a piece using a project management tool before. It’s almost certainly not for everyone, but I totally love it. The best part is being able to easily sort & rearrange my notes. With a paper notebook, or loose paper, you can’t move individual sentences around. I tend to write out verbal descriptions …

Con Vivo’s Fall Concerts

Since moving to Jersey City in 2009, I’ve become more and more involved in the city’s cultural scene, and I’ve been constantly impressed by the warmth, community, and raw talent that our city has to offer. A while back, Zach Herchen took over as artistic director of Con Vivo Music, Jersey City’s leading classical music …

The Seafarer to screen at CSU Fullerton

CSU Fullerton is hosting a fascinating festival of new music that incorporates images and text. Performances by Elliott Sharp, the Either/Or ensembles, and Carla Kihlstedt are going to be amazing. And on Saturday night, February 28th, the festival is screening four hours of films and video art that incorporate words and images along with new …