Alexandra Gardner | Building Noises

Percussionist Chris Thompson is a member of Alarm Will Sound, The American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), The Knights Chamber Orchestra, Line C3 Percussion Group and has performed as a guest with the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and for On- and Off- Broadway theater, including the New York Productions of Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, [...]

Happy 2010 everyone!! To start off the New Year in good and proper Tom Sawyer fashion, I would like to introduce you to the musicians who will be playing in my fast-approaching February 3rd Mobtown Modern concert. Every 4-5 days a new “Performer Interview” will be posted. They have all been asked to answer the [...]

This holiday season I am feeling positively festive! Hmmmm, I wonder why. Do you think this sort of thing could be the cause? Maybe compounded by this joyful event? Oh wait! I know what else it is! I CAN GET HITCHED NOW!!! Okay, almost. Still exciting! Whatever the reason, it’s kinda nice to revel in [...]

On a recent trip to New York I had one of those anxiety-dream-meets-real-life moments, when I realized on the morning of day 2 that I had forgotten to pack socks! Genius at work. Happily, one of the good things about NYC (especially in the winter) is that wherever you go, you are only about 3 [...]

This is so true, don’t you think?! “Most intense” is probably a more diplomatic phrase. Whether it is religious, dietary, technology-related, or name-that-topic, you will hear all about it from the converted. Often, and in great detail. So make yourself comfy. However, this can be a completely good thing! For example, friends joining the Forces [...]

Annea Lockwood and Thomas Buckner came to town last week, to perform Annea’s composition Duende at the Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music. Hearing this piece live was a big treat, as was being able to hang out and visit with these two. I never imagined as a freshman in college, begging Annea to let [...]

Cornelius Dufallo is a wonderful violinist and composer, as well as one of the biggest champions of new music around. I first heard him perform his music a couple years ago on the concert series Music With a View, and I was struck by the combination of intensity and patience in that beautiful, slowly unfolding [...]

Well, it’s official. My brain has automatically switched into archetypal back-to-school mode. I am craving fresh notebooks and new shoes. ******* To be honest I haven’t been feeling very talkative lately, so I’ve been keeping things on this side of the firewall. During July and August I took a break from composing to focus on [...]

This post is horribly late, given that these events happened last week, which is now officially last month, but better late than never, right? First of all, there was an amazing concert in Seattle! This was one of the very best premieres of a new work that I have ever experienced. Sometimes I am so [...]

One of the things I adore about the Baltimore Contemporary Museum’s Mobtown Modern concert series is how much thought and creativity directors Brian Sacawa and Erik Spangler put into the themes of the concerts. Of course there is a thread weaving the pieces on the program together, but what makes the concerts extra special are [...]