Life for a Work After the Premiere

Yesterday I read an interesting article on the Chorus America website titled "What Happens After the Premiere" by Don Lee. The article brings up some interesting points, one of which is that many works are commissioned for a premiere performance and then fall off the map (at least for a certain amount of time).  He points out that there is a distinct marketing advantage for a group to present the premiere versus the 2nd or 3rd performance of a piece.  But, to be honest, I'm not sure the audience really thinks about this as much as the ensemble does.

The audience is there to hear great music, and they are there to be enriched regardless of whether that performance is the very first, or the 2nd, or the 100th.  As a composer, I am of course a huge proponent of commissioning and I think there are myriad benefits, but I am also a huge proponent of supporting pieces after they have been premiered.  Given all the work that goes into bringing a new piece to life, I think we need to be careful to not just premiere a work to pomp and circumstance and then forget about it.

In his article, Lee points to some good programs and partnerships that are striving to address this issue.  Composers certainly have some responsibility here and must do everything they can to ensure that the works have life beyond the premiere performance.

Idea for a New Piece

Sometimes I just improvise at the piano to come up with ideas that might turn into something.  Occasionally an idea sticks around, comes back to me several days later, and I'm not sure why (at the time).  But often times, ideas like that are the seeds for a new work.  This happened a few days ago - I came up with a simple little chord progression that sounded nice, but disregarded it and went back to work on something else. I didn't even write it down.  Then on Wednesday I was sitting at the piano and I found myself fiddling with this chord progression again. Now the ideas have been in my head almost non-stop for the past few days.  Even though it is in some ways distracting from a piece I'm trying to finish (Magnolia Star for wind ensemble), it's always exciting when this sort of inspiration happens, and I don't mind the distraction one bit. I think the ideas will work great for both an SATB choral piece and possibly a wind band transcription.  The essence of the idea is an 8 bar harmonic progression  in 3/4 time that would be repeated, each time adding a new layer of counterpoint, or a new voice, etc.  It will definitely start as a choral work, and I'm thinking the text might just be "Alleluia."  The idea reminds me in some ways of Mozart's Dona Nobis Pacem canon, which has a special place in my heart because it is sung community-sing style at the conclusion of the Eastman Holiday Sing each year in December.   Here is the 2010 performance directed by the great Mark Scatterday (even though you can't see him in the video):

We're Not in Kansas Anymore!

Couldn't resist that title.  Anyway, yes, I am back home after a wonderful trip to KMEA in Wichita, KS.  I flew in Thursday and just barely missed the Bethel College Wind Ensemble's performance of Lauda! Ahhrrrrg!  However, everyone I talked to raved about the Bethel Wind Ensemble, so I'm very happy for them and congratulate them on what sounds like a fantastic performance.  My hat goes off to my good friend Timothy Shade who not only conducted that fine ensemble, but also played euphonium, trombone, and ran 2 clinics at the conference!  He is an inspiring musician, full of love and passion for music, and I really enjoy working with him.  I also had a great time visiting with Tim's wife Gabby, Adrian Sandi (1st clarinet in the Wichita Symphony and a friend from ESM) and composer Derek Jenkins. Derek, Tim, and I presented a clinic Friday morning on composing and commissioning, and here is a link to a handout I put together on the subject.

It was also great to meet new friends and colleagues and I look forward to some exciting new projects in the future.  Hopefully I will be back to KMEA soon!

Panel Discussion - Composers on Composing & Commissioning

This morning I participated in a panel discussion at KMEA (Kansas All-State Conference) titled "Composers on Composing and Commissioning."  The session was organized by my friend Timothy Shade, Conductor of the Bethel College Wind Ensemble, who performed "Lauda" on Thursday at the conference.  Composer Derek Jenkins and myself talked about writing for wind ensembles, our experience with commissioning, and fielded some excellent questions from the attendees. Derek is a wonderful composer, and it was a pleasure to hear more of his music and hear him discuss his compositional process. I put together this handout: Thoughts On Commissioning, for the occasion.  The handout is by no means an exhaustive tutorial on commissioning, but is instead just some general ideas and information for those interested in commissioning a piece of music.  Many thanks to Tim for organizing the fun discussion and for all the folks that participated!

Off to Kansas

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I head out to Kansas for the KMEA Workshop.  The Bethel College Wind Ensemble directed by Timothy Shade will be performing "Lauda" and I sure hope my plane is on time - I only have 40 minutes from landing to the start of the concert!  Also, on Friday morning I will be participating in a panel discussion about composing and commissioning, organized by Tim.  Here is an article that appeared in the Bethel College News yesterday.

Composing Anywhere (and Everywhere!)

Composers have famously carried little black books with them to jot down ideas, regardless of where they are when inspiration strikes.  I don't necessarily do this, but I do find myself thinking about composing pretty much everywhere - while walking, driving, eating, etc.  And, I find myself working on pieces in various locations.  Obviously, when we travel we are forced to work outside of our normal spaces and sometimes get some work done in a hotel room or in a cafe.  I have always enjoyed working in cafes and coffee shops, where there is some bustle but also some ability to concentrate.  At the same time, I also like very quiet and secluded places where I can really focus on creating ideas and hearing them in my head.  However, those quiet and secluded places seem to be less and less common these days.  Today I find myself in a library where it is relatively quiet, but not without people walking by and some ambient noise.  I have my score for Magnolia Star (latest wind ensemble piece) here and I'm thinking about sounds, sections, and form.  It's nice to be able to get some amount of composition work done from anywhere.

Pieces You Can Premiere! (Part I)

I have a few pieces lurking out there in my catalog that have actually never been performed. While most of the time I am writing a new piece for a specific ensemble, group of ensembles, or particular event, sometimes I write a piece simply because I want to.  In the case of the latter, sometimes I will send the finished piece to groups who I think may be interested.  Other times, I just hold onto the piece.

One of those pieces is a work for Men's Choir (TTBB) and English Horn titled "From Our Happy Home."

It is a Christmas-themed piece, although I wrote it last summer when I stumbled upon a wonderful text by Louisa May Alcott.  I felt like the text called for a fun and lighthearted setting, and so I chose men's choir and the beautiful (but also witty) english horn to accompany them.  The piece is 3 minutes long - bursting with fun and energy throughout.  After I wrote the piece last summer, I added it to my website and moved onto the next project.

So, thinking well ahead of the 2012 Holiday Season - you can purchase the music and have yourself the premiere performance!  Contact me if you are interested.

New! Nocturne IV for Sax Quartet and Flute Ensemble

Tomorrow I'm shipping off a score and parts to the University of Central Florida for "Nocturne IV" scored for saxophone quartet and flute ensemble (6 flutes, 2 altos, 2 basses, 1 piccolo). The work was commissioned by the University of Central Florida, at the request of  saxophone professor George Weremchuk.

The piece builds off of the fourth movement of my solo piano work "Nocturnes."  It was a fun and challenging task to write for this unique instrumentation, and I'm looking forward to hearing the result.  Of course, the challenge when writing for a group like this is to effectively balance the saxophones and flutes - to write in a way that sounds like a unified group of winds rather than a separated group of saxophones and flutes.  And while the piccolo can certainly overpower just about anything, the saxophone quartet could easily swallow up most of the flutes if not carefully scored.  Hopefully I thought enough about these challenges while writing the piece to make the orchestration effective!

I felt like the material in the solo piano version of Nocturne IV lent itself well to winds.  The mysterious and foreboding opening, with it's quiet intensity would score well for low flutes, all by themselves.  Leaving the saxes out in the beginning of the piece gives the alto and bass flutes a time to shine without competing with the sound of the saxophones.  The saxes certainly do provide the low end throughout, and provide a lot of the driving force that comes with the "grooving" fast section.  This is where I really expanded the piece in this new version - the fast section.  The form of the sax/flute work is essentially a two and a half minute slow section, and a two and a half minute barn-burning fast section at q=138(!).  A tiny bit slower would be fine too, but it really grooves around 138.

Nocturne IV for saxophone quartet and flute ensemble will be premiered at the University of Central Florida, at their annual Central Florida SaxFest on March 31, 2012.

Honorable Mention in CBDNA Young Band Composition Contest

Goodnight, Goodnight for concert band was recognized as an Honorable Mention in the recent CBDNA Young Band Composition Contest!  Check out the winner and other honorable mentions here.

At Keene State College Today

Today I spent the day at Keene State College in Keene, NH talking to a composition class - listening to student works, and discussing my own. It was a wonderful time - the students presented some excellent compositions, and all of the students had insightful things to say about all of the music we discussed.  It was a lot of fun.

At the end I handed out a little document I recently put together which lists 18 "tips for young composers."  These ideas range from the importance of having a positive attitude to attending conferences and concerts.  They are ideas I have thought about over the last few years of being out of school and trying to further my career as a composer.  You can read the document here.  Enjoy!

Thanks to Keene State and the students for hosting me today, and especially Dr. Heather Gilligan and Dr. James Cheesebrough for organizing my visit!