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… ?
Tag: concert
Behind the Scenes: Rehearsing “The Old Beggar-Woman”
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!
Come to a Modern Musicale!
You’re invited!
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 See “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”
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! ?
“Radioactive” in Concert this week!
I am super stoked to have been invited to perform “Radioactive” on my 6-string fiddle with the Cal Poly Sax Quartet this Monday night, Feb 19 at 8pm!
Joining us on drums will be the amazing Damion Frigillana.
The whole concert is going to be amazing, and I’m really looking forward to jamming on this awesomely fun fiddle part with the group! <3
#NewTuneThursday— Anima Mechanicae: Soul of the Machine
Welcome to #NewTuneThursday!
Today’s tune is another really special piece to me, with lots of good memories attached to it. ^_^
“Anima Mechanicae: Soul of the Machine” is a string quartet that I wrote in 2007, during my grad school days and toward the end of my utter obsession with Minimalism, specifically after the stylings of Philip Glass. Listening to the recording of it below, I’m sure you’ll be able to hear the similarities. :p
But this work has a story element to it, that’s near and dear to my heart. The Mechanical Star of the work is actually a character that makes her first appearance in the second book of my original Kesher Chronicles series, “Questions of Faith.”
This character, SARA (an advanced “Security Analysis and Records Archive’ malleable-Paradigm”) — over the course of the second and upcoming third books — becomes very involved in the lives of the humans around her and tries to orient herself within her constantly evolving thought-processes…
You can see why I included the following quote in the score to the quartet:
Dedicated to the computers and robots of the future, who long to dream as the humans do.
The structural details behind this almost-12 minute work include:
…moments of mechanical coldness [in the opening], gradually giving way to moments of tender and emotional beauty. Wallin Huff intentionally derived and fashioned her various rhythmic and tonal patterns throughout the work from strict mathematical relationships — to showcase that a mechanically constructed framework can give way to striking beauty on its surface, much in the way a computer program of the future might evolve into its abstract dream-state.
The sections of this single-movement work include: Mechanically, Quixotically, Pensively, With impish behavior, Tenderly, and Surreal.
I’ll never forget the opportunity I had in 2012, 
traveling to Boston to hear the New EnglandString Quartet record this work for PARMA Recordings. You can hear them in that very session on the album “Soul of the Machine” below:
Two years later, “Anima Mechanicae” got its European debut at a concert at the Exeter Phoenix Auditorium in Devon, England!
I do have sketches and outlines for a multi-movement “sister” piece for quartet …something about Consciousness… :p It would be nice to complete that one someday soon… I’ll keep you posted! 🙂
“Anima Mechanicae: Soul of the Machine” can be performed by an advanced string quartet. Get the sheet music here! And stay tuned for our new work of next week…
Watch the Live Debut of “Fever Pitch”
Last night violist Charlotte Van Houten debuted the unaccompanied solo I wrote for her — and it was just amaaaaaaazing!!!
Enjoy this video I grabbed from the performance…and look forward to an official studio recording of it, with Charlotte again on the solo, coming soon!
Free Vintage Style Concert for Violin and Piano Next Week!
Check out the awesome little concert I’ll be doing with pianist, Lydia Wu, Friday night, Jan 5, 2018! We’re so looking forward to playing this charming music for you… Featuring musical sweets from Fauré, Elgar, Amy Beach…and even Yours Truly… ?
Hope to see you there! ☺️ ???
You’ve Written a Piece–What Now?
This is a great resource I stumbled upon for composers looking to get some musicians playing their music!
…Ask performers within your network if they might be interested in playing at the concert you’re setting up… For clarity, and because it is good practice, you should draw up a written agreement… Your next challenge is to find a venue for your project… Your work is 30 min in duration, which is not enough for a full concert, so you get to select other compositions to complement your own work and complete the programme. Skillful curating is an art form in itself… Any performance is an achievement, so make the most of it!…
Lots more details are available at the article. Get your work out there, and enjoy the ride! 🙂
“Sing, Sing, Sing,” from SCPhil Concert – 2/28/2017
Still one of my all-time favorite arrangements to play! ^_^ Enjoy!
