America – a poem to read at the piano

The day after the 2016 election a friend of mine posted this sonnet to Facebook, and it really helped me: America by Claude McKay Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that tests my …

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 …

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 …