scott blasco » composition

QUEEN OF HEAVEN recording now available

Scott — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:43:51 +0000

Kari Johnson’s recording of Queen of Heaven is now available for streaming and purchase on Irritable Hedgehog’s website! Digital download alone is $5, CD (and instant download) $7… and as with all of Irritable Hedgehog’s recordings, you can listen online for free.

Many thanks to Kari and the Irritable Hedgehog family for all of the work that they put into this recording. It sounds simply amazing!

Filed under: composition, links

Queen of Heaven recording

Scott — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 04:25:55 +0000

Exciting news: Queen of Heaven will be recorded in August by Kari Johnson for a late 2011 release on Irritable Hedgehog!

Kari is, of course, the pianist who both commissioned and premiered the work, so it is fantastic that she will be able to make the first recording of it as well. She has a recording of the premiere performance posted (at least for the moment) on her SoundCloud page here, if you’d like to hear more than the two movements I’ve posted on my own. It was a very demanding piece to write, and very rewarding as it came together, and Kari has been completely wonderful to work with throughout the whole process.

Details forthcoming, but you can watch Irritable Hedgehog’s Twitter and Facebook pages for updates on this and other great projects. Seems they always have something interesting up their prickly sleeves…

Filed under: composition, music

October 2010 performances

Scott — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 04:49:07 +0000

Four Songs from The Caucasian Chalk Circle
@ SCI Region V Conference
Friday, October 2, 2:00pm, Denkmann Hall
Augustana College, Rock Island, IL
Katherine Crawford, mezzo-soprano; fixed-media electronics

Four Songs from The Caucasian Chalk Circle
@ Electronic Music Midwest 2010 Festival
Saturday, October 16, 5:00pm
Lewis University, Romeoville, IL
Katherine Crawford, mezzo-soprano; fixed-media electronics

Filed under: composition, music, performances

Review of Four Songs

Scott — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 03:31:05 +0000

My favorite piece of the night was the most “traditional” even though the accompaniment was computerized. The song cycle Four Songs from the Caucasian Chalk Circle, written by Scott Blasco and performed by versatile mezzo-soprano, Katherine Crawford. Originally written for a theater group performing the Bertolt Brecht play by the same name, and it was, in my opinion, nothing less than phenomenal.

Read it all here.

Filed under: composition, links, music, performances, press

Four Songs recording

Scott — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:16:10 +0000

A recording of Four Songs from The Caucasian Chalk Circle has been posted on UMKC Conservatory’s InstantEncore page as part of the Best of Spring 2010 Performances playlist. The performance is by Katherine Crawford, from the February 2010 Composers Guild concert.

LISTEN HERE

The songs themselves are also available on my profile page, and the complete playlist is here (the pieces by my friends Chris Biggs, Caroline Miller, and Brad Baumgardner are all top notch).

Filed under: composition, links, music, performances

“Reliquary”

Scott — Fri, 28 May 2010 04:19:42 +0000

Reliquary, the sound art installation Paul Rudy and I did for the UMKC Friends of the Library annual celebration, was a resounding success. Here are a few links to photos and such:

The May 23 edition of KCUR’s KC Currents, featuring an interview with Sharon Bostick, Paul Rudy, and myself about the UMKC library robot and “Reliquary” (around time 17:35-29:00 in the broadcast). Also with a short writeup and edited audio here.
The UMKC Libraries’ Flickr gallery of the May 12 event.
Progressive stages of construction (on my Facebook page)

As of this week, the installation is open on the third floor of the UMKC Miller Nichols Library. If you’re in the area, drop by and check it out!

Filed under: art, composition, links, music