The past month was extremely eventful. It began with a joint recital with Morgan Denney and Monte Taylor. I premiered Improvisations V: Two Track Mind on the clarinet, and Romance Sonámbulo received its third performance by Ryan Gardner, Elena Blyskal,, Andy Eshbach, Kevin Gregory, Josh Schwartz, Dana Kaufman, Javier Chacon, and Ryan Hecker. It was a great evening that came together perfectly, despite a lot of last-minute problems.
Following this concert, Andrew Friedrichs and I premiered a free improvisation work based on the other improvisation piece. Improvisations 5.2: Two Tracks for Two Minds takes the electronics settings for Improvisations V and assigns pitch and rhythm control to different keys. The laptop performer gets to interact with the live performer by typing in the next cue.
And finally, Tony Boutté and Jared Peroune premiered Tarde del trópico, a setting of Rubén Darío's poem of the same name, at the New American Voices concert. Meaning Tropical Evening, it gives the evocative and melancholy narrative of stormy weather over a tropical sea. My piece won the New American Voices Competition, which means I will be able to write another piece for Tony Boutté. to be performed publicly.
With all these performances finished and with the school year over, it is time for a fresh start. I will be attending the month-long Atlantic Music Festival starting at the end of June, and for that festival I will be writing a piece for Pierrot Ensemble and an orchestral piece. Also, I will be writing a piece for Brian McKee and Diana Ramirez (bassoon and violin) and begin my thesis project. It will be nice to compose without the burden of classwork.
Finally, there will be quite a few changes to my website as I prepare for the Atlantic Music Festival. I plan to revise all of my scores, put score previews on each of my composition pages, and make an option for purchasing my music for those who have requested it. I'm looking forward to making those changes, though it will be a large task! When I'm not composing, working, or revising, I will be taking advantage of all that Miami has to offer!