This summer I had my first experience collaborating with a choreographer and dancers, and I completely fell in love with the process and the idea of writing music for dance. Back in 2017 my friend Maura Villanueva, who directs Joffrey Texas, a summer program for young dancers, asked if I wanted to write a piece…

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My favorite John Cage piece is In A Landscape, his piano solo from 1948. Just listen to this: https://youtu.be/hyNGCHImlEk There are plenty of arguments for why it’s an important piece (stunningly static for its time, pre-figures Cage’s obsession with listening, etc. ad infinitum), but they all dissolve into the sustain pedal as soon as you…

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I just delivered the score and parts to a new piece, Three Graces at Perigee, to Cadillac Moon Ensemble. It’s been an incredibly busy summer and I haven’t been keeping the blog updated, so I thought writing about this piece would be a good way to get going again. Over the past year or so I’ve started…

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I’ve been meeting with Clarence Barlow a lot lately, a composer who is well known for his algorithmically composed music. It’s something I was very interested in as an undergraduate, but haven’t pursued much since then. Now that I’m getting to know Clarence, I think it’s something I may take up again. Essentially, you write…

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I’ve taken a short break to consider a lot of things in my work on Moon Songs, and during this time managed to write a guitar prelude. It’s totally unmeasured, which is a first for me. There’s a way that I play it, but I’m literally curious to see what other rhythms other guitarists will…

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