It's a strange thing to look back on one year, but even more so to look back on seven of them. When I think about it, it's totally ridiculous! So much has happened that I could never have imagined, but there's something of the 17-year-old me that is completely unchanged (I'm 24). I'm still trying to figure out what that is, and I'm sure I'll be thinking about it for a while.
This past year, alot of things have come into focus - I have an idea of what I want to do when I finish my second (and potentially last) college degree. This is partially due to being forced to think about it, but also knowing that whatever you do revolves around a moment, something that could destroy an idea, or really make it work.
In an earlier post, I wrote that I wasn't going to focus on large ensemble projects because I thought they weren't practical outside of an academic setting. This has remained true in my own creative work. This semester, I worked mostly on a duo project: FULL CIRCLE TIME MACHINE (with my friend Tara Mueller). FCTM has been a great way to develop alot of material with ease due to coordination with one other person. Before this year, Tara and I didn't know each other well, and had only worked together in classes, or much larger settings (such as last Spring's Inter-NEC installation CONSERVATORY SONIC EMERGENCY). In April, Tanya Kalmanovich put together an improv session in which we (and many others) were randomly assigned to play duo, and I really liked what happened. It sounded good, and since the beginning of this semester, we've performed about eight times in Boston.
This project has highlighted two things:
1.) In music, two can be a dream number for practical reasons.
2.) It's important to be in the moment - being alert to a creative spark can lead to a project that really lasts, and puts you in a good place.
That said, I think I'm always going to be able to adapt to my surroundings, and build meaningful projects. Boston is wonderful and I'll be sad to leave it if I do, but this is an important example of something that grew quickly from very little. We could have easily never played together ever again, but we're working it, and things like this can happen anywhere, at any time.
Shortly after our installation CONSERVATORY SONIC EMERGENCY, I decided to stop working on super-huge projects for a while. Some really great things came out of it, but it was tiring, and involved alot of different people .
All of this changed when I saw a score by NEC alum Burr Van Nostrand (class of 1972) in NEC's Grad Composition Seminar. Malcolm Peyton, who taught the class, told us that Burr was the most talented composer he's ever seen come through NEC, and that despite this, Burr's music hadn't been heard for over 20 years. The large score Mac brought in for us, Voyage in a White Building I, was only ever heard twice (both times were in 1969). It was such beautiful work, and there have been many developments in music/technology since then. With this in mind, I knew we had to revive the piece, and Burr's music in general.
This interest in Burr's work led to my meeting his publisher (see previous link), and seeking a EM grant from NEC to produce a concert of his music. Additionally, New World Records has become interested in releasing a record of both archival material, and new recordings of his work.
This concert is set to take place on April 22nd, and the logistics are slowly being worked out. The best part for me is that Burr himself is involved, and that's an uplifting thing to see. Many of his teachers are now my own, and several of his early collaborators will somehow contribute to the concert/project as well. As big a nightmare as large-scale projects can sometimes be, I think that they are totally worth doing, especially when they have the potential to impact so many people in a positive way.
To Be Continued, Always and Forever!
