Welcome to the Halloween edition of New Music Monday! In honor of the day, I present a piece that I feel fits the Halloween spirit: the Jabberwock by Jabez Co. The piece sets the poem “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll, which comes from Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Although the poem is often… Continue reading New Music Monday – Jabez Co
Life in Alto Clef Blog
New Music Monday – Jennifer Jolley
For the second iteration of New Music Monday, I present Spielzeug Straßenbahn by Jennifer Jolley! With Baroque music being close to my heart, it is not all that surprising that a piece that re-imagines Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 stood out to me. There’s also something about the fusion of Baroque and Post-Minimalist idioms that… Continue reading New Music Monday – Jennifer Jolley
New Music Monday – Ash Stemke
After figuring out some technical difficulties with my website hosting, I am back in business and now I can finally get back to making blog posts with greater frequency! Today I am staring a series that I hope to continue on a weekly basis, which I am calling “New Music Monday.” (#NMM?) What I hope… Continue reading New Music Monday – Ash Stemke
Be Kind
Happy Leap Day! I apologize for my long hiatus from blogging! Between school and struggling with my website’s server, this blog fell by the wayside. But no longer, thanks to a bout of insomnia! Last night while (unsuccessfully) attempting to fall asleep, I found myself thinking about graduate school audition season. This past Friday, prospective… Continue reading Be Kind
Music for the Future – Part 2
Back in Decemeber, I completed Sparkling Spring for Mrs. Nancy Petrucelli and the Auten Road Intermediate School Advanced Orchestra. This piece was a chance for me to give back to the program that started me off on violin and to thank the first teacher who first encouraged me to compose. Writing a piece that was… Continue reading Music for the Future – Part 2
The Artist’s Statement
The artist’s statement is a fairly daunting document; how can one expect to full express the breadth, depth, and meaning of one’s art in less than one page? And at the same time, on the surface it seems like such a useless document because art (music) should speak for itself, right? Well, the artist’s statement… Continue reading The Artist’s Statement
Writing Music for the Future
Okay, so I firstly have to admit that the title of this blog post is slightly misleading. Nonetheless, I think it truly sets the stage in the correct way (which will be evident, I hope). “Why is new music so hard?” This was a questioned posed by Drew Williams at the 2013 fresh inc festival.… Continue reading Writing Music for the Future
Why So Tonal?
This is a question I feel as though I must have been asked at least a hundred times about my music. It could really only have been a handful of times, but it’s a very unnerving question to hear - hence the hyperbole. From some of the music of my peers and my mentors, there… Continue reading Why So Tonal?
From the fresh inc festival…
While attending the fresh inc festival, I have had the amazing opportunity to work with the talented participants, the members of Fifth House Ensemble, and the festival composition faculty - Stacy Garrop and Dan Visconti. But something that has made this festival so innovative and unique is the attention paid to addressing both entrepreneurship… Continue reading From the fresh inc festival…