We are now at the midterm point of coursework at UMaine, and there have already been some cool concerts on the schedule, so this post is just here to try to keep track of events before the election and the holidays take over.
First, the inaugural offering of Ohio University’s Clickfest was an awesome time. Six well-curated concerts and an impressive talk by Kelli Smith Biwer on the ways that sophisticated audiophile equipment was marketed to difference audiences in post-WWII America. I play my loud-cat piece, Domestic Shorthair, and made everyone think about their past pets.
The following week, in addition to the Bryne:Kozar:Duo performing the set I wrote for them at the beginning of their series of concerts this fall, a new piece for euphonium and piano was publicly premiered by its commissioners, David Stern and Laura Artesani. They are both great collaborators and great colleagues, and they seemed to have a good time with the piece.
Now, I wrangling arrangements for UMaine’s own upcoming festival in February 2025, the Society for Composers joint Region 1-and-2 conference. Performers from both regions are selecting pieces from our submissions as we speak, and I hope to have news next month on this front.
And, today, Davy and I get to see a production of Gabriel Kahane’s show February House in Boston. We almost have the original cast album memorized, but we never saw that production – very much looking forward to seeing it live and in person.
And.. we also voted today.
beth wiemann 