Alexandra Gardner | Building Noises

Rather than photograph the usual pile of loose, scribbly manuscript paper, here is a page of finished score, which the musicians will actually use in performance. The music changed so much inside the computer that my pencil and paper musings don’t even seem relevant anymore.
Mythimna Twilight is for my wonderful friends, guitarist Enrique Lop [...]

Well that’s just not my thing. I’m a serious composer.
This was a colleague’s comment following a performance by Kronos Quartet of Terry Riley’s The Cusp of Magic. Although I haven’t heard much of Riley’s music in recent years, this is definitely my favorite piece so far. So many elements that could go terribly wrong in [...]

This is a picture of the brand-spanking new electronic interface for my piece New Skin, redesigned by the amazing and talented Scott Smallwood. The software program is called Max/MSP, a very useful graphical programming environment geared towards music and audio. Although I use it pretty frequently for my compositions requiring a live electronic performance element, [...]

If the Seattle Icebreaker Fest hadn’t gone so well, I might have been more put off by the surreal morning of departure, which included Bill and I driving madly around the airport on a quest for the unmarked car rental place, and then my plane being several hours delayed because the “glue had to dry” [...]

Lots happening these days…..lots! Juggling multiple adventures in music composition (more details on that later), not to mention learning a few bits of technological geekery…. So of course I am running off to Seattle where I get to help break the ice. I think it will be lots of fun! Also looking forward to playing [...]

Last week I began a new composition - alto sax and guitar, for the wonderful Duo Cuypers/Lop, who will be traveling from Spain to the US in April for a tour. Even though I just finished a new work last month that will be performed very soon indeed, I sat at my desk last week [...]

This photo is from a performance last month at The Stone, in New York City, taken by flickr pal and new music enthusiast litherland. I really enjoyed performing with Kathleen Supové and Jennifer Choi! Each played one of my compositions for solo instrument with electronics - Kathleen did (Re)acciones (that is Kathleen and I in [...]

I won’t give you the entire rundown of this event since that has already been done, but suffice it to say that Phil Kline’s rapidly spreading holiday boombox parade (this version in Baltimore organized by Brian Sacawa) is the most holiday fun I’ve had in ages! Honestly, how many Nutcrackers or Messiahs can a girl [...]

Every year during the holidays I make a CD for my friends of favorite music from the past 12 months. This year I fell in love with a lot of different music, but because the Mix is geared towards all things celebratory, I stuck with the danceable, fun and/or relaxing. iTunes won’t let me burn [...]

Here are a few random pages & notes from The Way of Ideas, for flute, clarinet, violin and cello, just finished and sent off in the mail a few days ago. The Seattle Chamber Players will be premiering it on January 25, so you should definitely come check out the concert!
This was a challenging piece [...]