So. Last weekend die Frau and I were in Davenport, Iowa for the 20th anniversary new music festival of the Iowa Composers Forum. As I mentioned before I had two pieces performed, one of which was a premiere. There's a link to my myspace page on this posting where you can listen to the retooled premiere of May Music (which is still its best performance).
The performance of May Music was good enough but left much to be desired. They got the big picture but some of the really important nuances got completely lost. Here's a hint: when your piece involves a lot of microcanons it's not good to play together. It finally occurs to me that while the piece is written for winds it is actually an orchestral piece that happens to be written for winds. Nonetheless I was appreciative of their efforts.
But the performance of Angels and Demons, an unaccompanied violin solo, went smashingly. Carol played the snot out of it and, I think, really impressed the other composers in the room. Then again, most of them had only gotten 'pretty good' performances. What can I say? It's good to know people. I also happen to know that she surprised several of the professional performers in the room. That's awesome
That's it for now. More about the rest of the festival later, including the possibility creating diversionary tactics like gnawing off one's arm or starting a fire in order to escape the serial composers!
5 comments:
don't start a fire...unless you're ten years old and live in California.
"You guys! I'm super-serial!"
So Carol impressed the "professional" performers, eh? I always had a problem with that word. What make you a professional? How much money you make? Whether you can totally support yourself with your craft alone? Or having a degree and being %$%#ing good at what you do? Is it simply in the attitude? I attest that we are all professionals. I'll be damned if some haughty prick is going to call me an amateur.
And serial composers often do require escaping from. "My penis has more tone rows than yours." Or some other variant. Or the subtly condescending, faux-friendly questioning they approach you with after a performance. Either your own faculty members or "esteemed" guest composers... or so many stereotypical serial composers such as you are about to describe...
"Well helloooo Mr. Fancypants."
I shall hold my spite for your next post. As if I'd run out.
[catches breath]
Pretentiousness is sort of a pet peeve of mine. Ahem.
Okay, okay, now I'm holding my spite.
Yeah. Definitely catch your breath. I guess I should have been more clear. Carol is a professional. What I suppose I meant was that she suprised the "professionals" with more "experience". By that I mean old.
Actually I haven't encountered a great deal of pretentiousness in the group. As a matter of fact it basically breaks down in to three groups: the ultrarational (a few), the tonally conservative (most) and those of us somewhere in the middle (a few).
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