Sometimes you just get lucky. I was honored to interview the one and only Christian Wolff for Nate Wooley’s Sound American music journal. In all my experience with Christian, some of which I wrote about …
Anyone, Anywhere, Anywhen, Anysound: Embarking on a new project
I’m pleased to announce that I’m now working on a new project—The AnySound Podcast. The podcast will feature new text and music written expressly for this project, one of few podcasts to do this. As …
Learning Across Artistic Disciplines: Improvising at Performance NW’s FANFare
There is so much to learn from working artists from other disciplines. Last Saturday I improvised accompaniments to dance at Performance Works NW with Luke Gutsgell, Ben Kates, Danielle Ross, Noel Plemmons, and Elise Knudsen. …
The Bright and Rushing World Released!
I’m happy to announce that my fourth album as a composer and leader, The Bright and Rushing World, is now released. There’s much more information on AnyWhen Ensemble’s new website including program notes on the …
AnyWhen Ensemble at the Rubin Museum: The Path Leads Here
Even when the art we make is sacred, we artists are still just regular people. And we have been for generations. In anticipation of our concert at the Rubin Museum on January 17th, I took …
Tribute to Nelson Mandela: Hugh Masekela’s “Bring Him Back Home”
After the death of Nelson Mandela, there have been many tributes paid to this hero of the South African anti-Apartheid movement, and the global fight for equality. Since I heard Hugh Masekela’s “Bring Him Back Home” I’ve …
A Hoping for Peace: Pax vobiscum
The word premiere of Sidney Marquez Boquiren’s Pax vobiscum on our concert tonight at the San Francisco Center for New Music makes this a special landmark for the group. This is the first piece that …
Galloping Gertie: Telling the story of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge
The castles of sound that we musicians build always fade away at the end of the concert, but at least we don’t have to worry about them crashing down in the wind. The thousands of …
Party in Pardeeville: My Community Band Debut
As a (mostly) professional musician, I’m used to watching other professionals keep a perfect, expressionless face when they make mistakes. And I do it too. (Maybe I do it a lot.) Its part of being …
Grant Writing Basics: Finding Individual Arts Grants that Fit
As I’ve said before, grants shouldn’t be the only way you raise money — think of them as “part of this complete breakfast” of fundraising tools. But, a grant can provide a big chunk of …