I am freshly back from an adventure in Iowa with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, listening at home to their performance of Bathtub Shrine. The CD appeared in my dressing room when I went to pack up after the concert. That’s how you should do it, orchestras!
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, Jason Weinberger, conductor
Over the past couple of out-of-town jaunts I’ve been reading Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled, at the recommendation of my friend Carl Willat. It’s the third of his books I’ve read, and by far the strangest—it pulls off the trick of being fascinating and willfully boring at the same time. What initially drew me in is that it’s about a composer-pianist (!) who visits an unnamed city to give a Very Important Concert. I’m not implying that my out-of-town experiences have been anything like the events in the book (really! Don’t take this the wrong way!) but I know it will resonate with any of you itinerant musicians. There are some passing details which I know composers will enjoy, too, such as an extended debate about musical theory in which the theoretical concepts and terms are all fictional.
Now it’s back to the grindstone; looks as though the next few weeks will be free to compose. I have just delivered a new piece to the Cadillac Moon Ensemble, called Trade Secrets; the parts for Old Keys are mailed out; and the wonderful Kristin Lee is playing a short piece I wrote for her this week at a Metropolis Ensemble fundraiser, though the public-at-large will have to wait to hear it.
Which reminds me, heartiest congratulations to Andrew Cyr and Kate Gilmore, who have just produced a baby boy!