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

Symphony No. 1, Movement 1

Finished the first movement of my Symphony no. 1 last night.  Still tweaking formatting and trying to figure out how to divide it up so I can post it to MySpace and Facebook so y'all can listen to it!  I'll keep you in the loop, as we all now how technically savvy I am.

I should have it loaded by 2012.

More as the drama unfolds,

Jef

Big Boy Symphony

So I'm known as an "educational" composer. Means I write good music for student musicians and that it's pedagogically sound. I'm cool with that, as I'm good at it.

But, sometimes a composer has to write what he/she WANTS to write. A piece that will build craft while giving satisfaction to the innate need to create.  I've just started such a piece, my first symphony. OK, I've written three symphonies already, but this is the first one written in what I would guess some historian a hundred years from now will term "his mature style," meaning that it's written for professional level performance.  And it's totally different than what I usually write.

It's fun writing for yourself every now and then, but don't worry, I won't let all this atonality and aleatory go to my head.  I'll be writing a grade 1 string orchestra piece before you know it....

Stay warm out there! It's -10 here in KC with this nasty arctic wind!

Jef

Kickin' the Bells

School concert tonight! Whoo-hoo!

Always fun to create new music with my students. Tonight's concert will feature two brand-new works written especially for their respective ensembles: VGM (Violas Get Melody) was written for our elementary honors strings, aka "Extreme Strings," while "Kickin' the Bells" (my take on the ubiquitous Ukrainian Bell Carol) will be premiered by our Chamber Orchestra.

Lots of other great music happening as well, with all four high school orchestras joining the Extreme Strings tonight.

So, I guess I better go get ready so I can head back up to school for the fun!

More later,

Jef

New Composer Weight Loss Secret Revealed:

Food poisoning!

Yeah, gross, I know.  After I got back from Iowa last Sunday I ate some wonderful leftovers that turned out to be not-so-wonderful.  Ended up with 24 hours of sheer torture.  Never want to do that again!

Even my Critters knew I was in trouble: the dog and cat never left my side the entire time I was home sick. Cool kids!

But I had to get back to school this week, as we have District Honors Orchestra (of which I'm in charge), a guest clinician (my good friend Brian Cole from Moorhead, MN, who's doing the honors orchestra gig), and a concert next Tuesday! Not a great time to miss much school!

Which doesn't leave much time for composing. But that's alright. I'm putting the finishing touches on the Franklin Middle School commission, so it'll be ready right around the holidays, and my slate is pretty open right now.  Anybody need a new piece?

I'm thinking "Concerto GROSS-oh: in E Coli No. 2" would be appropriate!

Try harder to be a little bit better,

Jef

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig....

Back from Iowa to the Composer Cave.

The Mom Unit and I did some retail therapy on Black Friday at a nearby antique mart and found some cool wall treatments (a clock and three cool quotes in rather nice frames). I'm a geek for quotes, so it was cool to find nice "art" that I actually enjoy reading as well!

The dog, cat, and Amy have joined me in the Cave as I'm putting the finishing touches on it.  New end tables mean more space for books. And, as any librophile will tell you, books will expand to fill the amount of space you have available (kind of like cats and dogs).

So if you'll excuse me, I've got to get my inner-Martha Stewart on....

Jef