Author: SB

Perpetually dissatisfied with the contents of my sock drawer.

Two new works

I’ve recently completed two new compositions, and expect premieres of each in the fall.

Tango-Passacaglia is for flute, violin, cello, and piano, written for my friend Elizabeth Robinson, a doctoral student flutist at Ball State University. The goal with this piece was an unpolished, raw sort of feel, with a focus more on driving rhythmic interplay than lyricism.

Rondo alla Smirk is a solo violin work for violinist/composer Piotr Szewcsyk’s Violin Futura project. It is a play on the well-known final movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata K311 (the Rondo “alla Turca”), borrowing the Mozart rondo’s form to serve its own energetic, rock guitar-inspired material. You can learn more about Piotr and his fantastic work here.

On the docket for summer work remain settings of the song portions of Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle (for a fall production at Dordt College), a work for electric guitar and piano, and a setting of one of my wife’s poems for soprano and computer. Still in process, although without a deadline, is my Sinfonia, the first movement of which (Monument) can be heard on my listening page.

A lot to do, but it’s only June 1.

New recording posted

I’ve posted a recording of “Monument,” the first movement from my in-progress Sinfonia, on my MySpace page. It was read earlier this week by the UMKC Conservatory Orchestra, who performed it admirably (the recording is spliced together from various takes done over the course of a mere 20 minutes–the first time the orchestra saw the music!). Many thanks to the orchestra and to Brandon K. Brown for his conducting work.

Movements 2 though 4 are in the works, and the whole Sinfonia should be completed in the spring.

De Profundis @ SCI 2008 [updated]

De Profundis has been selected for performance at the 2008 SCI Student National Conference, held October 10 and 11 at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

It is tentatively programmed for Saturday (the 11th) at 8pm. I’ll post updates if there are changes, and probably also when the time is closer.

UPDATE, 4 October: Click here for the homepage for the conference, including a schedule of events and such.