Thanks & see you there!

Although I had no intention of having a pet when I moved to Baltimore (I have enjoyed having cats in the past, but it’s been several years since the last batch) it seems that the universe had other plans. This guy showed up on the front porch a couple months after moving in:

I had seen him around the street quite a bit, because a neighbor—a certifiable “crazy cat lady”—was feeding the various strays, several of which had run away from a home nearby that is infamous for bad behavior, including animal hoarding. But last summer Crazy Cat Lady moved away, and the herd of felines redistributed themselves across the neighborhood. It didn’t take long for this boy to set up permanent camp at our place; I fed him a bit of tuna one afternoon, and that was it. Clearly I have a gigantic “S” tattooed on my forehead.

Although he already had a “street name,” I felt he needed something a little more…..refined, so now he is called Longfellow. Not only is he very tall indeed (standing on hind legs he can easily reach the kitchen counter), but like Henry Wadsworth’s Paul Revere, he always sounds the alert when strangers approach.

Long story short, after several months of trying unsuccessfully to find Longfellow a good home, which I thought would be easy (HA!), he injured his paw and we let him inside the house because he was limping badly. I feared he would tear up the place after living outside for so long, but much to my surprise, he is exceedingly well-behaved! He has far better kitty manners than any indoor cat I have ever owned, and responds well to gentle discipline and training. In addition, he is very healthy (no feline diseases or infestations of any sort) and had only strained one of his toes. Even though it was a minor injury, it took several weeks for his paw to heal, and during that time (remember that “S” on my forehead?) I got attached. Sigh. So here we are.

He’s got quirks, to be sure. He is definitely not a snuggly cat—he doesn’t like to be picked up, and has zero interest in sitting in laps. However, he loves to be petted, and he does enjoy being wherever the humans are hanging out. When he is happy he gives “head-butts.” Most days he keeps me company in my studio, oscillating between napping in his fleece-lined box and lounging on top of some cardboard file boxes. After a few months of living together, we seem to have arranged a schedule that works for everyone.

Now that he is well-fed, comfortable, and getting plenty of attention (including regular doses of fancy organic catnip thanks to my kitty-loving mom), he purrs all the time, and has become quite the showboat!

I do hope that he’ll start helping out with the composing soon! Or maybe the copying. Right now he is lying on top of the score I’m working on.

Holy Moly. Hi! Has it seriously been nine months? It’s turrrrble, so much radio silence.

Believe it or not, I have actually been writing all this time! In fact, I’ve probably written more words in the past nine months than in the last nine years (rest assured that I am just as surprised as you are). Since July 2010 I’ve been working as an editor of NewMusicBox, for which, in addition to tons of behind-the-scenes administration-y sorts of things like the herding of writers, editing all manner of media, planning, organizing, tweeting and such, I’ve been writing a weekly blog post, short essays about CDs that land on my desk, and producing some artist interviews. Lots of words about music. It’s a super cool way to keep the lights on, and I feel very fortunate to have such wonderful and talented folks to work with as Molly Sheridan, Frank J. Oteri, and the entire gang of the brand-spanking newly formed New Music USA.

So life in general has been mad busy and productive. Last spring N and I became homeowners in Baltimore, and now we think about things like plumbing and masonry far more than we ever imagined possible. I am absolutely loving Baltimore in all of it’s unabashed quirkiness. There is a strong sense of place here, and people are very attached to their “Charm City”. Such a change from the transience of Washington, DC!

Music projects are percolating along nicely, and this year has brought performances all around the country as well as abroad, including a tour in the Northernmost part of Sweden! I’m currently looking forward to some face time with the wonderful Nadia Sirota, to work on her new piece for viola and electronics, Seduction Involves Patience. It was a blast to write, and I can’t wait to hear her play it! I still need to write a program note for the piece, and I am seriously considering using this to do it. There is also a big new composition in progress which I hope to tell you more about in early 2012.

It’s looking like a hunkered-down, nose-to-grindstone set of adventures in the making for 2012, but if you decide to stick around, I promise to turn up the volume more frequently and share some words, sounds and pictures on this space.

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, inspiring evening of vocal gymnastics concocted by William Brittelle, Caleb Burhans, and tUnE-yArDs. Wonderful stuff all around! I didn’t know the music of tUnE-yArDs (Merrill Garbus) before this concert, and for those who are fans of the Juana Molina/Andrew Bird do-it-ALL-yourself school of singer-songwriters employing loops for the Forces of Good, she is a great addition to that playlist! Plus, there’s yodeling.

Inuksuit by John Luther Adams at the Park Avenue Armory. I have already written some reflections about that elsewhere. And dear pal Molly Sheridan has wrought sheer brilliance about JLA that should be watched and read.

In addition to those events there was a hunk of the Music of Now marathon at Symphony Space. The world of new music totally needs more Errollyn Wallen!

Finally, I scurried over to Alice Tully Hall after a busy day to hear ICE perform. Imagine a concert of Feldman, Cage, Xenakis and Webern attracting hundreds! Love it! I was looking especially forward to hearing the Feldman pieces, and in the end was most taken with Jalons by Xenakis. I think I like the music of Xenakis for some of the same reasons I like the music of John Luther Adams – every so often through gigantic, thick, busy clouds of musical activity pop individual instrumental lines, as if bits of the composition’s DNA are being revealed. Like watching dolphins jump out of the ocean.

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Among other happy discoveries is this film, which I am excited to see! In graduate school the best (and toughest) class I took was without a doubt ethnomusicology. I did my big research project on raves and techno music, and loved every minute of it. Say what you will – I got an A.

Anyway, on to the business at hand! Logan and I took a little trip to Oktaven Audio in Yonkers, where we recorded “Mint Conditioner”, and you can listen to it here. We had a great time working with Ryan Streber, whose setup is quite luxurious (yet affordable!) – in addition to a serious microphone obsession, he has as his main mixing board the Studer 900 series console used by the Metropolitan Opera for live broadcasts over the last 20 years. Fancy!!

Somehow the piece feels like it might pair nicely with turkey and a hearty stuffing. Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving!!

They pretty much nailed the whole “Quirky gypsy wedding band run amok” feel that I was hoping for. Enjoy!

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 I am very excited for their visit to DC on Monday! Strathmore Mansion (the older yet more petite sister of the Strathmore Music Center) is a beautiful space with very good acoustics–perfect for intimate concerts. In addition to this work, the ensemble will be playing music by Nico Muhly, Nathan Michel, Patrick Burke, David T. Little, Mark Dancigers (who plays guitar in the group), Jascha Narveson, and my friend the intrepid director of NOW, Judd Greenstein. The show is going to be so fun! DC people come on out!

Above are a few pages of sketches and notes from the making of Mint Conditioner for double bass and electronics – signed, sealed and delivered (several weeks ago) to exceedingly awesome bassist Logan Coale. True to the title, this piece starts out a tangled ball of knots, and by the end rinses out smooth and silky!

About three-quarters of the way through the work I learned of the illness and impending death of a family member. That news and the events surrounding it stopped me in my tracks. I couldn’t bring myself to write a single dot. Apparently grief is my musical Kryptonite.

I know this is probably the case for many people – death and the grief that goes with it is paralyzing for anyone. Although I wasn’t able to write music, and I had very little interest in listening to music, I found that playing the piano – simply noodling about on the keyboard – was very centering. Perhaps the act of playing music freely, without any expectation, censoring or the need to “produce” something, is housed in a different department of the brain?

A good friend asked if I turn to music when life gets rough, and evidently the answer continues to be yes. But when things become really complicated, the musical experience turns in a slightly different direction.

What helps you find your way through challenging life changes and events?

SO MUCH WORK! Why on earth do you put yourself through this?!

I have asked myself the same thing more than once! The answers are always the same.

1. Because I HAVE to – nothing else feels satisfying in quite the same way that composing does.
2. Because composing music is fun!! Duh!
3. The best reason goes something like this totally unexpected email from Antonio Albanese, the guitarist of the ensemble Compagnie Ch.AU, which is running around Switzerland playing my piece Two by Eight:

Hi Alexandra!

We have been working on your piece and I always forgot to tell you how much fun it is to play!!

Thank you a lot.

I’m sure we’ll have a lot of success with your piece.

All the best!

Antonio

That is why!

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In other news, a new piece for double bass and electronics is imminent! I am smitten by jazz orchestra. In the bloggerhood there happen to be a couple of new kids on the block. While we’re at it, some of my favorite reads are listed for you here since I haven’t got a proper blogroll going yet:

Mostly Musical
John Mackey’s Blog
Mind the Gap
Night After Night
Sound Directions
Unquiet Thoughts
Urban Modes

Extra-musical and excellent/funny/useful/interesting
1,000 Awesome Things
Cake Wrecks
The Daily Coyote
Honey Rock Dawn
Noisy Room Full of Silence
Study Hacks

Cheers all!

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 for a drink asap!) made for a wonderful, completely satisfying experience.

Here is The Way of Ideas performed by Kelli Kathman, flute; Alicia Lee, clarinet; Yuki Numata, violin; and Joshua Roman, cello.

Joshua Roman playing Bloom.

There is a reason why performed by Alicia Lee, clarinet; Yuki Numata, violin; Joshua Roman, cello; Chris Thompson, drum set & melodica.

Almost like being there. Enjoy! There are plenty more where these came from too!