Some firsts

[sen_no_ongaku]

For the first time, I am being paid to write a piece of music, for The Arlington-Belmont Chamber Chorus, thanks to Barry Singer, whom I met while engraving and arranging for crap pay. The parameters I've been given: the piece should be between 9-20 minutes long, and finished by the end of 2007. All the rest is up to me: the text, additional instrumental accompaniment (though practically speaking, 8 is probably the limit), harmonic language, etc., is my call.

They're used to performing modern music -- they premiere a piece every year -- so I can range a bit further afield in my demands...though I still have to be careful, of course.

As for a text, I had first considered realizing a project I've been thinking about for years: setting a deCSS algorithm to music, or something related -- and I still may -- but what's currently more compelling is the text of Executive Order 9066, probably interspersed with a related loyalty questionnaire. I'll need to make up my mind soon.
___

Also, a fellow I met in Oregon last summer wants to include the third movement of Honey Glazed on a CD of saxophone quartet music he's releasing.

I agreed.

It's sufficiently rare that someone else is professionally interested in what I'm doing that even though this is the first step in a long process, I'm pretty excited. If I'm lucky, the quartet making the recording will become interested in performing the entire piece on their concerts.
___

In other news, my engineer is currently in London for a few weeks, so I'll have to wait on finishing up our splicing job on Three Sketches until he's back. Someday this frustration will end, and another will arrive to take its place.

Comments

[2h2o.livejournal.com]

Groovy.

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's phenomenal! It's terrific to see your true professional career moving ahead!

[sen-no-ongaku.livejournal.com]

Many, many small steps that may or may not go anywhere. But it's something, at least.

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

Many small steps are so much better than no steps at all.

[osirusbrisbane.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the world is slowly catching on to your musical genius. Congrats.

[laobscuridad.livejournal.com]

Srsly. It's about time. Congratulations!

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on these pieces of excellent news! :-)

[g-me.livejournal.com]

Hey, cool - I know Barry Singer. I sang in the Arlington-Belmont chorale (the larger chorus from which the chamber choir is culled) before I started classes that kept me from singing because they meet on the same night as rehearsal. And, Keith (husband) sang in the chamber chorus before he started grad school. Perhaps he'll be back in time to sing your piece!

Barry's a great guy. Very cool. Congrats.

[ppaladin.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

[sal-sal.livejournal.com]

"A good composer is slowly discovered, a bad composer is slowly found out."

Awesome! Great news to get right before the holidays!

[sylvantechie.livejournal.com]

Very cool - congrats!

[phaedrusdeinus.livejournal.com]

Excellent. I approve.

Congrats!

[cmprince.livejournal.com]

I look forward to hearing your music someday. Do you have a website or some other such distribution medium for sampling your work?

Re: Congrats!

[sen-no-ongaku.livejournal.com]

I've got a site of sorts up at www.mjveloso.com -- there are some older MP3 clips, about 30 seconds long of some pieces...

[elklad.livejournal.com]

Congrats! I like both your ideas for the Chorus text, for what that's worth.

[ellinor.livejournal.com]

yay and yay!