New Work on Its Way

Finished up my newest choral work, an SSAA a cappella work, this evening.  It was written for the Joe Shepley Composition Contest sponsored by the Namaste Women's Choir in Los Angeles.  The lyrics are from a Susan B. Anthony quote that I've come to love:

"Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation....."

I'm not going to delve into the greater historical significance nor the political ramifications of the quote, but suffice to say, as a composer, I feel that it can be read several different ways.  As I age, I find myself saying to my audience: "What does this mean to you? How does it make you feel? What's your reaction to it?"  Rather than, as I did in my youth, screaming "HEY, LISTEN TO THIS! I HAVE SOMETHING OPINIONATED TO SAY!"  It's kind of like poetry, in which the poet always speaks in first person: "me, me, me" gets really old after awhile.  I want to interpret, too!

So "Anything or Nothing" goes into the mail tomorrow.  I haven't sent a work to a contest in a long time, having grown complacent with my publishing schedule, but since I've not done a lot of choral work, I'm excited to get my work out to a new audience.

And, who knows, maybe they'll let me know how they feel about it....

Namaste, indeed.

Jef

Off to Work....

Heading over to the coffee shop with my notebook and pencils to get a little work done.  I downloaded a new piano app for my iPhone so I think I'll be able to get a lot more ideas down than I normally do.

I don't have "perfect pitch." In fact, I don't even have not-so-perfect pitch, so it can be very frustrating at times when I have ideas that I can't quite get down on paper exactly as I heard them in my head.  Unfortunately, the creative part of my brain, the one that comes up with these amazing ideas doesn't seem to get along with the analytical part of my brain that needs to write it down.  Makes for some amazingly funny scenes, I'm sure: "Look at the crazy man in the corner talking to himself, punching his phone like that! Stay away from him, kids!"

But artists are supposed to be a little bit crazy, right?  Right?

Oh well, off to work.

Jef

Great Work Indeed

My high school orchestras will join our choirs in presenting our annual "Great Works" concert tomorrow evening, Tuesday, February 15th.  In addition to a mass by DeLibes and Bach's Cantata No. 4, the choir will be premiering my newest choral work.

Tonight was the dress rehearsal, and I have to say that I was just blown away by the choir's performance.  Normally I don't get too awfully worked up, but I shed a few tears tonight.  THAT is why I write music: to reach that special place, deep down inside a person, that says "this music is here to make your life, however brief it may last, a little bit better, a little more hopeful."

Every now and then I have to be reminded how humbling it is to be a composer, to be a purveyor of time, emotion, and sound.  I am the luckiest man alive, right now, right here.

Namaste,

Jef

Western Kansas Orchestra Festival Commission

The Western Kansas Orchestra Festival has commissioned me to write a new piece to be premiered under my direction in November.  Drawing from the western parts of Kansas (duh!), the festival features two high school orchestras, along with middle school ensembles.

I will be conducting the commissioned piece along with one of my old standards, "Declarations."

I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to write for the festival, as it has a reputation for having commissioned some really nice educational pieces.  Matt Means, professor of violin at Fort Hays State University, and Michael Harbaugh, director of school orchestras in Beloit, are two amazing individuals whose tireless work has really made an impact on hundreds, if not thousands, of students' music educations.  Because of them, I'm happy to be a part of this year's festival.

It's going to be a lot of fun!

Peace,

Jef

Snow Days - Slow Days

Getting a little "cabin fever" here in KC.  Two more snow days and it's very, very cold outside!

I haven't seen this much snow in Kansas in the 18 years I've been here, and it's getting pretty close to the amounts of snow from my childhood in Iowa! Yikes!

But snow days make for slow days around the house.  Gave me an opportunity to post another piece on my YouTube Channel.  And it's probably my favorite string piece, well one of the top five at least, so please check it out.  It's called "221B Baker Street."

You get extra credit if you figure out who's address that is!

Stay warm out there,

Jef

New YouTube Channel

Check out my new You Tube channel!

It's been fun figuring out all this new-fangled technology and whatnot! Next up, the rotary dial phone!

Trying a little harder to be a little better,

Jef

Now That's Just Cool!

Sorry 'bout the long hiatus, but heck, it was Winter Break after all! And I had a whole lotta nothing to get done!  Actually, I got a little more work done on the symphony, cleaning up the first movement instrumentation and posting it, along with a couple other new commissions, on my MySpace page.

I also got a whole lot of World of Warcraft played during the break! Yeah, I know, I'm a dork, but after all, is that REALLY that big of a surprise?  So, I rotted a lot of brain cells, had a lot of fun with friends and family, and enjoyed the holidays.  My favorite gift was a set of Sony MDR-7506 Professional Studio Headphones! Not only does my music sound great in them, you can hear monsters sneaking up on you in WoW! (Again, I'm a dork. Got it. Moving on....)

In other non-nerd related news, I received the following from Gabe T. in Texas:

I am both a student and an enthusiastic viola player. I recently played in the North TX Region 24 all-region concert, with one of the pieces being one of your songs "Orange Jam."    I enjoyed this piece so much, it was both different from classical music and other sorts of music that students seem to play more often than not, but it also contained an element of music that many composes seem to leave out: this piece was amusing, challenging, and most of all fun. Many modern day composers that I know of can create beautiful music, but what is a piece without the enjoyment of the people actually playing said music?  I really wanted to thank and congratulate you on creating such a great piece. One song, believe it or not, can make the biggest impact on musical careers.


Now, I don't care who you are, getting an email like that sure can make your day! I know it did mine, so "thanks again, Gabe! You rock!"


Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go tidy up something on a commission and then it's off to nerd-land to slay some dragons!


Stay safe,


Jef