Duo Capriccio Premiere in South Dakota
10-15-18: Dr. Tammy Evans Yonce will present a faculty recital on Monday, October 22 at 7:30pm in Peterson Recital Hall on the campus of South Dakota State University. The program includes music by a number of living composers, including Duo Capriccio for flute and clarinet, my run at Paganini's twenty-fourth Caprice.
UPDATE: 1-12-18: After having to reschedule this recital, Dr. Yonce will present this program in the same location at 7:30pm on Monday, January 14!
UPDATE: 1-12-18: After having to reschedule this recital, Dr. Yonce will present this program in the same location at 7:30pm on Monday, January 14!
Blue Streak Ensemble at the Bop Stop
10-15-18: The Blue Streak Ensemble, a new music ensemble led by Margaret Brouwer, has commissioned me to write a piece for Pierrot ensemble plus percussion, to be inspired by the 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River that jump-started the environmental movement in the US. The premiere will take place on January 17, 2019 at 7:30pm at the Bop Stop in Cleveland's Ohio City Neighborhood.
I've been doing some fairly extensive research on the river, the industry around it, and the fire itself, as well as its impact as I prepare to write this piece, and I'm starting to transition to the putting down notes phase of the work. Hopefully, a title will present itself in the near future as well!
1-12-19: Notice the updated date: January 17, 2019 at the Bop Stop. Tickets availabe here.
I've been doing some fairly extensive research on the river, the industry around it, and the fire itself, as well as its impact as I prepare to write this piece, and I'm starting to transition to the putting down notes phase of the work. Hopefully, a title will present itself in the near future as well!
1-12-19: Notice the updated date: January 17, 2019 at the Bop Stop. Tickets availabe here.
Alexandrite for Trombone and Piano in Willoughby, Ohio
1-12-19: My trombone student Trent Glass wasn't satisfied with any of Vandercook's Trombone Gems when it came time to plan his recital appearance this winter, so I offered to write him a piece named for his birthstone, the volatile alexandrite. The premiere of this miniature will be on Friday, February 8 at the Fine Arts Association in Willoughby, Ohio, on their general recital at 6pm. Admission is free.
My Uncle Was in Derry in Cleveland and Akron
10-15-18: I spent some time recently revising a work from 2010 that never had a premiere, My Uncle Was in Derry for flute, horn, and piano, inspired by a poem by my uncle, Robin Saunders, about his time serving in the US Navy in Derry, Ireland during The Troubles. The result is that the Chamber Music Society of Ohio will give two performances of the piece in February 2019: Sunday, February 10 at 3pm at Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, Ohio on a free concert, and Sunday, February 17 as part of a ticketed event featuring the same program at the Steinway Piano Gallery in Boston Heights, Ohio. The second event includes dinner. More information here.
Lady Glides on the Moon in Wisconsin
1-12-19: The clarinet and percussion version of Lady Glides on the Moon will receive its first performance in Wisconsin by clarinetist Zach McCoy and percussionist Olivia Kieffer at the College Music Society Great Lakes Regional Conference at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. I will be presenting a paper at the same conference on the Cincinnati Symphony Centennial Commissioning Project.
In addition, saxophonist Aaron Durst, of the University of Wisconsin-Stout will be recording the saxophone and percussion version of the same piece this Spring.
I'm glad to see such life in a piece that I've always loved!
In addition, saxophonist Aaron Durst, of the University of Wisconsin-Stout will be recording the saxophone and percussion version of the same piece this Spring.
I'm glad to see such life in a piece that I've always loved!
New Works
1-12-19: I'm going to be writing an orchestral work for the Westminster College orchestra, directed by Melinda Crawford-Perttu, for premiere in 2019-2020. Check the blog for details as that project unfolds!
I'm considering a choral setting of one of the psalms for the Cleveland Composers Guild collaboration with the Cleveland Chamber Choir.
I've also been discussing the possibility of a piece for clarinet and guitar with Erika Cikraji, a clarinetist from my Ohio State days who now lives in Cleveland.
I'm considering a choral setting of one of the psalms for the Cleveland Composers Guild collaboration with the Cleveland Chamber Choir.
I've also been discussing the possibility of a piece for clarinet and guitar with Erika Cikraji, a clarinetist from my Ohio State days who now lives in Cleveland.
On the horizon...
I'm also hoping to organize a local premiere for Place of the Sea Mountains, and to that end, I've recruited trumpeter Brian DePoy and violinist Natalia DePoy. This piece is about Willowick resident Robert Manry's solo crossing of the Atlantic in his 13.5-foot boat Tinkerbelle, so it's important that it have a local presence.
I've completed my solo piano piece Sisters in Stone, inspired by the statuary collection at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, which I visited on my trip there in February 2017. More details on my blog here. Dianna Anderson, who gave the premiers of my Starry Wanderers and my piano sonata has signed on for the premiere! More details to follow!
