Performances and Events -- Take This Link to this performance list below
About Me
I am a composer, author, editor, teacher, and technologist. My work engages the advancement of arts and technology from both humanist and experimental perspectives. I am available for commissions, master classes, writing & editing, teaching & presentations, seminars & performances, and music digital engraving.
My music has been commissioned more than 300 times and performed by my own ensembles and over 100 orchestras, chamber ensembles, choruses, and soloists around the world,
as well as innumerable student groups and those who have anonymously downloaded and realized scores and performance artworks. My installations have appeared in
numerous galleries and museums, and I have performed at venues in the U.S. and Europe. My musical scores are part of the historical Notations21 project and exhibit.
I have composed for
orchestras & bands,
chamber ensembles & choruses, and
duos & individuals.
I am limiting my engraving services for most score work. I will continue to take a small number of scores, preferably unusual notation and without hard deadlines. I am accepting additional students for mentoring/challenging in composition.
"Whaaaaaaaaat!?" Series #2 -- Music Tech!
I Don't Get Music Technology: A Self-Help Desperation Guide is now available! Individuals, students, teachers, professors, performers, and anyone who might not "get" the technology used in music: Here is the book! I was looking for a good, short introduction to music technology for my undergraduate students. I couldn't find one. So, as with my classical music book, I wrote it. If you have friends faced with music technology or if you're teaching students areas who need some quick background, then this is your book. Really and truly, 150 revealing pages!
Whaaaaaaaaat!? I Don't Get Classical Music: A Self-Help Desperation Guide is now available! Individuals, students, teachers, professors, theater or jazz enthusiasts, and anyone who might not "get" classical music: Here is the book! I was looking for a good, short introduction to Western classical music for students outside the classical realm. I couldn't find one. So I wrote it. If you have friends new to Western classical music or if you're teaching students in other areas of music who need some quick background or if you have audiences for classical music who could use some background and encouragement, then this is your book. I'm not kidding. 100 pages and 30 hours of listening!
You can find selections of my music and arrangements on Sheet Music Plus. I couldn't post arrangements on my website because of licensing issues, but working with Sheet Music Plus makes that possible.
Composition Sessions, In Person or Online
You can study composition with me. Composers (or those just beginning the path) find working with me refreshing and exciting. Please look at my scores and listen to my music, and then contact me and we'll talk about your interests and challenges and dreams as a composer.
I am on SoundCloud
After much resistance -- why wouldn't folks just come here to my website? -- I decided to put selected compositions on SoundCloud. So there it is. And thank you for visiting!
Looking for the NEW edition of my "Country Stores of Vermont"?
As a child, Hungarian records were found in the house. When we actually got a record player, I could explore them. And here they are for your listening. By the way, there is a bucketload of other news to be reported on this page, but it's been a little busy. For now, do a quick peek at various events past & present.
Purchase all five of these CDs for $20 here and paste a copy of the order confirmation here. In return you'll receive the 24-page booklet and a bonus CD of Detritus of Mating (while they last!).
Erzsébet Opera Recordings!
My Erzsébet Opera Project was a long time coming and a big deal for me. You can also get the CD or DVD premiere recordings here!
Beautiful Print Publications You Will Love!
O: Eleven Songs for Chorus SATB with text by Gary Barwin from Lulu.com. These vivid settings of eleven poems by Gary Barwin are mysterious, funny, tender, inventive, rich in association, and eminently singable. From the skittering conversation of "The Birds," to the alternate Medieval world of "Sparrows' Song" and the rhythmic footsy of "Small Apes and White Feet," these songs strike a balance between thoughtful reflection and quirky off-kilter humor.
Erzsébet: A Monodrama is the opera's score from Lulu.com. This large volume is the full orchestration in a beautiful presentation with Lisa Jablow as Erzsébet on the cover. The opera is complete and premiered; a DVD will be offered here shortly! Complete background on the opera and information on downloading information, purchasing T-shirts, programs, etc., as well as future performances can be found on The Bathory Opera Website.
Three Performance Pieces is available from Lulu.com. Three beautiful performance scores from the 2007 "We Are All Mozart" project. One is a set of 99 performance pieces, the second a set of seven sections for French horn, and the third a set of 13 graphical scores for tenor guitar. Several of the latter are part of the "Notations21" gallery series.
Erzsébet: A Monodrama is the opera's libretto available from either Amazon.com or Lulu.com. The opera is complete and premiered, and a DVD will be offered here shortly! The libretto includes the full text along with images in a beautiful commemorative volume. More info at The Bathory Opera Website
Country Stores of Vermont: A History and Guide is available from The History Press. It's a really good book, with fantastic pictures and great stories as well as ten fantastic tours of Vermont. You can get it cheaper at Amazon.com -- but please try to get your copy from our local Vermont bookstores and country & general stores. Autographed copies also available..
Read All About Me, Me, Me!
Kyle Gann wrote a complimentary profile about me (I'm "a shadowy figure" -- yeah!) in Chamber Music Magazine in November 2011. It was a very nice piece which you can read here (PDF).
Opera Lyrics Font
I've created a TrueType font based on 19th century opera scores. It has all the typical characters and a few more, but is missing still a few of the special characters. I'll improve it over the next few months, but if you're interested, here it is: Opera-Lyrics-Smooth. If you distribute it, please keep in mind that this version (1.65) will occasionally be updated. Click image for full-sized chart.
Join the nonpop "Buy Local" campaign! If you're a composer or supporter of new nonpop, you can get a bumper sticker for five bucks at CafePress, item number 80570307, or even better you can download and print it yourself. The CafePress one is only 10 inches wide, but you can use the full-size image to print a big one on 11x17 paper and trim it to standard 3.75" x 15" bumper sticker size.
A Cloak for the Lord of Cats (1995), a short-short story about vampiress Báthory Erzsébet, a true historical figure. This story forms the basis of a scene in a proposed opera.
It's Time to Bury the Dead (1992), intense article calling for the end of performances of older concert music and a revision in thinking and sensibility.
Composing a New Language (1992), proposal presented at MedArt International by Barbara S.J. Balch and me to replace lost language skills with musical language developed through interaction and virtual reality.
The Image Behind the Glass (1986), talk to ID Expo in Boston on light pens and touch screens that presages modern palmtops, handwriting recognition, and artificial intelligence features.
The Impact of the Microprocessor (1982), prophetic and political talk about microprocessor technology and philosophy, presented to the ACM at Rensselaer in Troy, New York.
The Microprocessor as a Modern Odysseus (1982), similar talk with a personal sidelight about music and the arts, presented to the IEEE in Burlington, Vermont.
