Just got back from a road trip to Cornell, where Nick, Hannah, Becca and I played in an all-Gorbos concert. Steve Gorbos is a great composer and a seri­ously cool guy. The concert was actually his DMA recital, meaning he is now Herr Doktor Profes­sor Gorbos. My group played two quartets: Bridges, a piece from a few years ago that’s one of my favorites, and a new one called Foot­prints which, if possible, is even more tender and beau­ti­ful. You can listen to Bridges at Steve’s website; here’s hoping our perfor­mance of Foot­prints goes up there soon. (UPDATE: IT’S UP!!!) 

Stephen Gorbos: Footprints

I’d never been to Ithaca before. There’s some quality about upstate New York (and the more remote parts of New England) that is simul­ta­ne­ously depress­ing and exalting; I can’t quite pin it down but I think it has some­thing to do with the light and the shape of the land­scape and the falling-down­i­ness of all the build­ings. Though Cornell looks to be in good shape. The campus is very insular, unlike Yale’s, where even when you’re surrounded by univer­sity build­ings, you still feel like you’re in the city of New Haven. We played in a strange, T‑shaped hall that creaked loudly with every gust of wind. The green room was furnished with some inter­est­ing old keyboard instru­ments, all in perfect playing condi­tion, and an old green-naugahyde Eames sofa. I couldn’t decide which I wanted to strap to the roof of my car! 

Right now I am off to lunch with my composer friends before we all disperse for the summer. I will be staying put in the Elm City, moving to a new apart­ment come June, working on several new pieces under uncom­fort­able dead­lines, and also helping out in the record­ing studio, scav­eng­ing for old furni­ture, and attempt­ing to grow loquats from seed. I’m also trying to learn Dreamweaver by working on a website redesign. Anyone passing through should call up and distract me.