Holy hell, what a week last week was. I was really excited to play guitar with What’s Next? Ensemble for the US premiere of AutoSonata Beta at their fourth annual LA Composers Project at Royal/T. I was honored to have had the piece selected in the first place, and then ecstatic when they asked me to play with them for the premiere.
So it was with great elation that I took off from work early on Wednesday to go to rehearsal. Then, on the way there, this happened:
I want to make this clear: I did nothing wrong while driving to cause this. I was happily changing over from the 105 to the 110, surprised at how little traffic there was, when there was a BANG and it suddenly felt like my truck was leaning to port like a boat with a hole in it. That’s probably because my truck was suddenly leaning to port like a boat with a hole in it. I wrangled it over to the shoulder (thank god it hadn’t happened one minute earlier or later, in the left lane on either of the aforementioned major freeways (double parenthesis! note to the rest of the world: in LA, a major freeway means at least five lanes in both directions)), called the guys in the ensemble, then the Auto Club, and then a friend to complain, who sent me this screenshot that I’m pretty proud of (click the picture to make it bigger):
So a tow to my mechanic, ride home, and a rolled ankle while stepping out of the tow truck later, I gave percussionist/composer/comrade-in-arms Ben Phelps a call to ask how rehearsal went. He informed me that it went really well, and that I didn’t have anything on him because his apartment had caught on fire the previous day and was currently uninhabitable. God, really? The marimba and computer had been saved, though, so we’re all good on that front. He said that I’d still be welcome to join them for the performance if I felt up for it, and I said that I hoped to, and if things didn’t sound tight enough in the dress rehearsal on Friday, I’d bow out.
Along comes Friday, at about noon, when I took a break from working from home to go to the grocery store, on my bike. I was peacefully riding along when suddenly the handlebars were no longer attached. I have absolutely no idea how that happened, but I do know that I went to the hospital, had my ride pick me up there, and showed up to rehearsal in workout shorts, covered in bandages, with my arm in a sling. Honestly, except for the immense pain, I felt pretty badass. Anyway, I elected not to play.
The concert was AWESOME, though. All of the composers on it had cool pieces, and there were literally more than 100 people there, standing room only, packed in. Sweet energy in the room, and it seemed like the crowd really liked my piece. Long story short = it was a totally sweet week.
A few reviews of the show have come out, on auscultations and Out West Arts. As always, they’ll be listed on the Press section of this website for all eternity and future generations to behold and stuff.
On to writing this piece for guitar and electronics I go.