Composing and Careeers

Alright, here's the news, times two:

1.) Today I completed The Two Coffins for tenor and grand piano. It's an art song written for my friend and colleague Timothy Ballard, who is slated to give its premiere in September. This is the first piece in my CC21 Project, which uses Creative Commons as a marketing tool to generate performances in 21 states over 21 weeks. Click through to read about the project and download the PDF score for free! (Contact me for performance info.)

2.) Today I received my official offer letter from the University of Texas at Tyler, where I will be starting as an Assistant Professor in Music Theory and Composition in August! Five weeks left of summer teaching, one week to move, and one week to orient myself before the real thing begins! Here goes.

Rhapsodic Thoughts

Rhapsodic thoughts on the Library of Congress, new music, my new piano CD, free music, my mom, and the Rapture. Here we go:

* Going to see Eighth Blackbird for the first time on May 20th. Really looking forward to seeing them for the first time, and it's free since it's at the Library of Congress! Speaking of...

* Saw a concert of George Crumb's music at the Library of Congress last week. Fantastic performance of his American Songbook (selections). Brilliant reworkings of these shared cultural artifacts, but decidedly not "for the people" - except for those people who have 100 percussion instruments and a lot of time on their hands. Really enjoyed his pre-concert talk; makes me want to write more practical music. Speaking of...

* I just completed Music for a Rainy Day, my first album of piano music. Each "practical" track serves as an accompaniment to a specific part of the day: "Music for Waking," "Music for Sitting," "Music for Driving," etc... [Subject for a future post.] Right now, I'm trying to decide whether to market the CD, or post it as a free download. Speaking of...

* I've been thinking a lot lately about the business of music, especially regarding the Creative Commons movement, wherein an artist allows the free distribution of their work, presumably spreading it around faster and leading to greater word-of-mouth. [Subject for a future post.] I'm pondering releasing Music for a Rainy Day under a non-commercial CC license. Free music, yum! I'll of course give it away to family, especially considering it was conceived as a gift for my mom, so she'd have some music of mine she might actually enjoy. Speaking of...

* Mother's Day is tomorrow, Sunday, May 8th. Don't forget to call. My immediate family and a few others are making the trek from South Dakota to see my graduation next weekend. So excited! Just in time: the piano CD gift is actually a 4-months-late Christmas gift. Speaking of...

* Okay, Christmas and the Rapture are only tangentially-related. Have you heard that the Rapture is coming May 21, 2011? That's in two weeks! 6 p.m. local, to be specific. I'm considering hosting a Left Below/non-Rapture/Reason party that night. Any takers/suggestions?