This Friday, May 15, at 2pm I’ll be presenting a live-streamed, 30 minute concert of solo violin music (with assorted accompaniment technologies) for the residents at Hillcrest in La Verne CA.
If you’re interested in listening in to the show, contact either myself or Loida Arriaga at Hillcrest and we’ll get you all set up.
Today in my basement studio I again experimented with the AudioKit L7 looper app, but this time I took a 17th century Passacaglia from the Rosary Sonata by H.I.F. Biber, and made it my own!
I just realized that I never shared the video from Charlotte Van Houten’s premiere performance of “Nevermore”! ?
Here it is!! Finally a live rendition of it—we’re of course planning on recording it (with two more movements!!) this summer… ?
Soprano Lauren Jorgenson and I got to get some rehearsal time in this morning, working on The Old Beggar-Woman from my upcoming Bros. Grimm Song Cycle ! Not too shabby so far…
The lesson here… when you see an old woman catch on fire, for god’s sake, put out the flames! ??
Come to our Modern Musicale on April 7 to hear us perform it!
I don’t know if you happened to catch a glimpse of a certain Super Bowl promotional video that aired about an hour and a half before the start of the game. But if you did, you might have caught a glimpse of me playing with the CMG Music Recording orchestra on site at Warner Bros. Studio, at the famous Eastwood Scoring Stage, where all the famous composers of the Golden Age of film recorded their music!
It was a unique experience and I am so honored to have been asked to participate. 🙂
Check out the full video below, and enjoy not only the video screenshots but a few backstage shots as well!
Come enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of an intimate social chamber music event in our underground studio! Featuring all-original music from local composers Simeon Goode, Brian Bunker, and yours truly ?
We’ll be presenting music for small chamber groups including strings, piano, flute, electronics, voice, and more!
Seating is very limited, so RSVP today—show your ticket at the event and get your choice of free music download-card from my work!
Looking forward to hanging out with you in April!
Come out to Cal Poly Pomona this weekend and next to see the Theater Department’s production of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”!
I’m so thrilled and honored to be the violinist playing the music for each show with pianist Corey Hirsch! It’s a blast to play, and the students involved are all really great!
Find the Theater on this campus map…
Be sure to come out and say Hi! ?
Enjoy this video from last Saturday’s debut performance of “Greek Dance” (String Orchestra Edition) by the Neue World Orchestra Project!
Come join me THIS Saturday afternoon in Pasadena for, not only the debut concert of an exciting new orchestra, but the world premiere of my short, spunky work for string orchestra, “Greek Dance“! Originally written for string quartet back in 2002, I was specially invited to create this arrangement of that tune for the strings of the Neue World Orchestra Project.
NWOP’s first concert will open with a world premiere arrangement of the animated and whimsical new piece, “Greek Dance”, arranged specifically for the group by contemporary composer Sarah Wallin Huff. Following the Wallin Huff premiere piece, violinist Yu-Ting Wu performs Saint-Saëns’ dazzling and seductive “Havanaise for Violin and Orchestra”, a piece that commands a balance of athletic virtuosity and grace from the violin. Concluding the program is Russian pianist Ekaterina Bessmeltseva, who makes her LA debut with Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major”, a concerto that is overflowing with songful melodies suffused with delicate and impressive artistry from the soloist and orchestra. (—>Concert Info)
Again the concert is FREE, and it’s Saturday March 10, starting at 1pm. Reserve your place by getting tickets here!
I’m really looking forward to it; hope to see you there! 😉
Welcome to #NewTuneThursday!
Leviathan of the Ancient Deep holds such a dear place in my heart! <3
Written in 2008 as my graduate thesis, this work is a three-movement, 25-minute concerto for solo 6-string electric violin, backed up by orchestra, EWI (electric wind instrument), and synthesizer.
Taking its cue from the Hebrew description of the Creature of antiquity and imagination, this Concerto features the virtuosic properties of the six-string electric violin with its immense range, while the various and creative sounds available to the synthesizer and electric wind instrument (EWI) enhance the beauty of the acoustic orchestra.
I remember I’d always wanted to create an electric violin concerto, and grad school seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it! 🙂
The three movements of this concerto tell a story of warriors setting sail upon the seas to find this ancient creature, Leviathan, for themselves…
I. Seekers of the Legend: “There go the ships: [there] is that Leviathan, [whom] thou hast made to play therein.”
II. Sighting: “Canst thou draw out Leviathan with an hook?… None is so fierce that dare stir him up… Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear… He is a king over all the children of pride.”
III. The Hunt: “In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan…that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that [is] in the sea.”
The second movement is the longest and features a mirror sonata form. The outer movements act as bookends for the whole tale, and the third movement contains a Cadenza during which the soloist is free to recall all the themes and riffs that came before, in new and creative ways.
Fun story: being “under the gun” to complete this work for my degree requirements, I truly thought at one point I wouldn’t get the third movement done in time. But, in a fit of inspiration, I happened to create the movement in only 2 weeks! Of course, I cheated at the time by not writing out a Cadenza and declaring that the soloist should just create one. ^_^ Then, when we debuted the work live, I was forced to finally create a Cadenza I could be proud of. 😉
Because of the complexity of, not only the work itself, but of the whole organization of musicians and equipment needed, I really never thought I’d get to release a recording of it, to share my real vision of it. But after 8 years, as technology (and my handling of it) improved, I was able to put in the effort and create a worthy debut recording! This recording is currently available for Backstage Members. But plans are already underway to get more chamber works recorded this year, to round out a whole, new, fantastic Classical album, with Leviathan at its heart.
For now, enjoy this video featuring a 10-minute sample from the epic, exclusive recording of “Leviathan of the Ancient Deep” and images taken from the accompanying, interactive picture-book!
“Leviathan of the Ancient Deep” can be performed by an advanced group. Get the sheet music here! And stay tuned for our new work of next week…
