“School/Music Stuff”

I’m excited! I believe I’m all set to have one of my pieces performed on this fall’s new music concert series. I’ve secured my players, gotten them parts and an example recording, and I’ve filled out the paperwork. I’ve got my composition lesson tonight, so I’ll make sure then that everything’s set. This will be the first performance of my music since my opera was done by Goat Hall back in June of 2009, and the first time any new composition has been performed in over a decade.

The piece I’m writing this semester is progressing. Even though the plan is for it to be performed in the spring, my comp professor thinks we’ll be able to get the university’s resident woodwind quintet to workshop it and maybe even program one of the movements on the end-of-semester student composers’ recital. I’m really pleased with this piece. It’s tough to describe why. There’s something very professional about it, there’s a quality there I’m very happy about. But also, I feel I’ve put a lot of myself into it, there’s passion and beauty and humor.

Things are also going well in my seminar. My writing is getting a lot of compliments, which is nice. It is a LOT of work, though. Things are starting to lighten up so that we can devote more time to our research projects, which is nice to have less to work on week-to-week, but the research writing has proved very difficult for me—even though my professor and colleagues are complimentary of that writing as well. I’ve also managed to become sick of my topic. Well, not in the totally disgusted sense, but more in the ‘ugh, not THIS paper again!’ sense. And I have plenty more writing still to do. I also seem to have serious difficulty writing program notes, and that has become a real annoyance. Oh well, can’t be good at everything.

I have other more minor music projects going. Dad finally finished the recordings he had wanted to do. Over the past couple years, he’s been coming over to record his guitar and singing. I’ve mixed more than half his album, and would really like to finish that up so that he could make CDs for everyone for Christmas. I also keep on working on the last CD I made of singer-songwriter tunes that I gave to everyone last year. I was never very happy with how it came out and keep re-working it. Maybe someday I’ll call that one ‘finished’ as well.

The semester is more than half over. I’ll be glad when it is, even though I’m enjoying it so much. It’s hard, it’s a lot of work. There is a part of me that wishes I wasn’t working, and that school was the only thing I was doing. But there’s also a part of me who feels really good about making this more gradual transition, continuing to keep my finances in order. With all the stresses going on in my life, not having to worry about money is a huge deal.

I’m planning a trip come December down to southern California as a reward to myself for getting through the semester. There’s a medieval art exhibit—stained glass windows and illuminated manuscripts—that I really want to go see. While I’m there, I think I’ll hang out on the Santa Monica pier as well. Never been there. I’ve learned it’s important to reward yourself, and a vacation sounds like a really good idea. The last one I had, I barely remember except for the fact that I didn’t really go anywhere or do anything except just be off of work for a week. Spending time down south, hang out on the beach? Sounds like a great idea.