12/1/2008
I just had the honor of playing the opening fanfare (on herald trumpet no less) for Harvard's ceremony awarding an honorary degree to Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. The Archived Webcast can be found here. Shortly after Kennedy's touchdown you will see the cameras zoom up into the rafters of Sanders Theatre right onto my torso. I also played in the premiere of Ryan Streber's piece for Wind Ensemble, Distortions, the recording of which can be found on his website.
4/4/2008
So, some who read this may know that I was not able to attend Boston
Conservatory in 2005 due to various circumstances, but no matter as I have been accepted again to the graduate
composition program and nothing is going to stop me this time. This may even be a better time to enter the program as I am in a much better position to be able to take trumpet lessons as well as composition lessons and play in ensembles. Should be a good time. Speaking of playing trumpet, playing principal on Kurt Weill's wind ensemble suite from the Threepenny Opera is the most fun I've had playing trumpet in a long time, check it out
1/8/2008
While browsing the scores at Harvard's Loeb Music Library, I came across an extremely short trumpet duet by Satie, Carillon. This would be fairly uneventful except for the interesting way that the publisher found this piece, by randomly stumbling on some issues of Fanfare: A Musical Causerie, a magazine with an extremely short run in the 1920s, at the British Museum. On the centerfold of each issue were fanfares written by composers specifically for the magazine. Intrigued, I searched the Hollis Catalog for these and lo and behold, Harvard has a complete set. I asked very politely to make copies of the fanfares and as they are all in the public domain, I am making them available here. If anyone can figure out the name of the composer by the signature on the last one, "Fanfare for a Meeting of Taxpayers" and possibly his dates (as I'm pretty sure it's *not* the John Williams we are all familiar with), I'd much appreciate it. Enjoy!
2/9/2007
Many changes going on here, hence the lack of updates. A new apartment and a new job as assistant to Harold Bursztajn with an updated bio and resume reflecting these changes. The entire site also underwent a subtle shift from html tables, to xhtml and css, with the barest sprinkling of tables. This change happening after spending months on the redesign of my previously mentioned new employer's website which contains all you would ever care to know about forensic psychiatry. Added a writing page to the media section. Revamped the music compositions page removing the barely visible first pages of scores with the intent to replace them with fancy flash full scores with scrolling playback. The latest two compositions listed, Heavens as Brass and the Piccolo Trumpet Concerto No. 2 [1, 2, 3] are both gussied up in this way with more to come. As is evidenced by these last few items, I have been working on my web design chops, so if you're looking for a simple but elegant website and don't have the money to hire someone else you don't know, look to me. Lastly, three short pieces of mine that have not yet been added to the compositions page were published on Round Online, a Zine with an inspiratory theme for every issue of which the linked to issue's was Haiku. I'm sure I'll think of more later, but I think I'll save that for another entry.
5/26/2005
Another long overdue update, this time with photos! Just go here and you will see some shots of Jenny and maybe even Jenny with a shot as well as some photos of a party at the aforementioned Jenny's apartment that took place last January. Wow am I lazy.
4/9/2005
Yes, I know updates have been few (none), but there are reasons you see. In addition to my always interesting job at Antiques on Cambridge Street, I have been filling my days off and my mornings before that job with work as a death-defying bike messenger. This has the added bonus of saving me the monthly fee of a gym. This will all change in the near future as I have been notified that I have been accepted to Boston Conservatory's graduate composition program, which will give me plenty of fodder for this website. Until then, I will take time to plug Round Online. A significant piece of said webzine just happens to be my good pal Beth (see 11/16/2004 entry).
12/13/2004
Pictures taken while home for my combined Thanksgiving/early Christmas/Birthday holiday. My mom at Red Lobster and my little nephew's first taste of wasabi. The new minneapolis IKEA, the rollercoasters in the Mall of America, my mom's new house and surrounding wilds, the St Croix river valley and Taylor's falls. My mom's adopted stray Elvis, me and my mom with Elvis, me and Samantha, Samantha on the bed, and another Sabina position. Some arty ones coming soon.
11/16/2004
A smattering of new photos. One of Sabina, looking out a foggy window, and one of Beth and Bon at Club Cafe after BMOP's little chamber music extravaganza. I do believe any concert that has a piece for solo Bongos as well as one for Maracas and Tape qualifies as an extravaganza. Also a shot of the Christian Science mother church dome from afar, and an odd still life and snow.
11/03/2004
My brief period of madness is over, I have definitively identified the short sample from the end of The Postal Service's song We Will Become Silhouettes. Every time I heard this song I knew I had heard that snippet somewhere before, somewhere that I of all people should know. After much soul searching, I have determined it is absolutely from the last movement of Mahler's 6th symphony, third measure after rehearsal 117 according to the C.F. Kahnt score (Dover reprint) and consists mostly of the melodic material in the clarinets with the oboes joining a measure later. Whew.
10/08/2004
Four new shots of Sabina, three on the futon, plus another. What can I say? It is nearly impossible to avoid taking pictures of her.
Some new grates and an interesting shot of part of the Christian Science complex.
09/27/2004
Three shots this time. Two of things that amuse me (top two) and one of an indescript corner by my apartment (third from top).
09/20/2004
Two new photos, one of 111 Huntington (4th from the top) and another from the Christian Science complex reflecting pool (third from top) as well as the final version of my Spicebush piece.
09/17/2004
Two new shots of Sabina, though you will regret seeing them, they are so damned cute.
