Summer Update

I know it is a bit early for a new update, but I can’t wait to fill you in on what is happening this Summer!

I am recording my first solo CD in June, with the help of the brilliant Paul Poston (and two of whose works will be featured). On the CD will be the aforementioned two works for trumpet and live electronics by by Paul; the amazing violinist/accordionist/folk musician, a Michigander and Princetoner, Annika Socolofsky; a minimalistic work for trumpet/saxophone/percussion/trumpet by the talented Daniel Harrison; an exciting narrative work about haunted New Orleans by the phenomenal opera-trained pianist Stephen Variames; two transcriptions from the late Jeff Buckley’s repertoire; and a commission from my time at UMKC, for the UMKC trumpet studio, a collection of miniatures by John Cheetham entitled “Contraptions.” My collaborators and I have been doing opportunistic performances of many of the works already, with great results, and I am excited to get the opportunity to share these works with the music community.

Second, I am booked up for my umpteenth trip to Germany. This time, I am staying in Karlsruhe for the month of July, and have trips planned for Trossingen, Munich, Stuttgart, and Geneva. The main thrust of this trip is to continue some of the research I had started on several years ago, although these new works and some of the more established works by Erickson, Stockhausen, Plog, and others, will be getting added to the mix. I will be exploring a type of music called Intuitive Music (which you heard some of, if you caught my recital), and exploring why German musicians and orchestras program so much more vividly than elsewhere. I am also foraging for new research angles, as always, and hope to touch base with some of my contacts from last time. I also generally plan on vacationing and look forward to much hiking, climbing, skiing, running, and whatever my little brain thinks sounds fun.

Lastly, but actually firstly, I am involved with this year’s ITG conference in a stage manager capacity (putting those Blue Lake and CCM skills to good use!), and look forward to connecting with some great friends as well as meeting some new ones.

Newsletter, Spring 2015

Hello colleagues!

It is time for my Spring Update, and there is plenty of news to fill you in on. I have my hands on two new commissions, Erasing Myself for trumpet, alto saxophone, percussion, and electric guitar, by Daniel Harrison, and Voices from an Unseen World for trumpet and piano by Stephen Variames. Both pieces are outstanding and will make great additions to the repertoire.

I have a lot of exciting performing opportunities coming up with all kinds of groups. First is Kentucky Symphony, playing some high notes on Holst’s The Planets and some other great works. Then, my personal recital, which is the debut of several long-term projects and groups with which I’ve been working throughout my doctorate. Maria Fuller is playing with me on the Haydn, David Abraham (percussion) and I are performing a particularly challenging work by David Crumb called Awakening, Paul Poston and I are premiering a revision of his work for trumpet and live electronics called Anticitizen One, and the Iridium Brass Quintet is performing Ewazen’s Frostfire.

In the coming weeks, we will hit the booth with Paul’s, Dan’s, and Stephen’s piece, and add a work adapted for me by Annika Socolofsky called Zelik which I premiered on my last recital. I also plan on recording John Cheetham’s Contraptions for solo trumpet, which I helped commission while a Masters student at UMKC. On the subject of adaptation, I’ve begun work on a trumpet ensemble arrangement of Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Tam O’Shanter, for no less than 9 trumpets. I’ve also got a couple of articles coming up for submission to our journal, one on the origin of the Torelli Sinfonia and another about practice technique, so I am excited for those to see the light of day. Speaking of ITG, I will be helping out with stage management at the conference this year.

With the Iridium Brass Quintet, we are working on a couple of projects, first and foremost our debut group recital here at CCM’s campus, and working on a couple of venues in Over-the-Rhine, and at area colleges. The group sounds fantastic and I am lucky to be working with these amazing musicians.

It’s all about the music.

That’s all for now!