Alexandra Gardner | Building Noises

Last week in New York was one big concert frenzy, and I had a blast! Notable things included: Goose bumps! A clear signal that something very excellent is in progress. I experienced more than one episode of these as a result of: Roomful of Teeth at the Ecstatic Music Festival. They delivered an utterly delightful, [...]

All I can think to say about 2011 so far is whoa. More on that later! The good people from Roulette sent the recordings from my November performance, and I have whipped together a mix of Now or Never for your listening pleasure. It’s going to snow! Again. Buy milk! Buy bread! Buy toilet paper!! [...]

First of all, last week’s concert at Roulette was, to quote an enthusiastic listener, “absolutely bloody amazing!” Seriously. All of the musicians gave 150%, and I think the choice to follow three pieces for solo instrument and electronics with an acoustic ensemble work provided just the right sort of juxtaposition, or….palette-cleansing? Particularly notable was Logan [...]

Some notes and papers from the production of Now or Never for flute, clarinet, electric guitar, piano and double bass. You can read a program note here, as well as an essay on this photo ritual here. Now or Never is written for the wonderful NOW Ensemble, who are on tour as we speak, and [...]

Updates are rolling in backwards! Chronological time is overrated… I wanted to alert you to some videos from last month’s concert in Baltimore. The combination of fantastic performances, an enthusiastic, open-eared audience, and a venue that has really good feng shui (Baltimore people, if you haven’t been to The Metro Gallery, you must stop in [...]

Last week I traveled with Molly and Brian to SUNY Fredonia, where we talked with students, played in and coached rehearsals, and had a concert sponsored by the Ethos New Music Society which included several compositions of mine, as well as works by Per Boland and Lei Liang. Thanks to Rob Deemer for being a [...]

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 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 [...]

For your reading pleasure! There are now program notes on the website for Banyan, for orchestra, and Bloom for cello and boombox. Stand by for recordings too! Last Monday Joshua Roman premiered Bloom at The Flea Theater in NYC to a big, wonderfully responsive audience. I couldn’t be happier about the performance! Even though it [...]