June 2014 was an intense and rewarding month. It began with the week-long New York Electroacoustic Music Festival. This juried international festival draws composers and performers of electroacoustic music from all over the world. My four-channel digital media composition Click was presented in a beautiful multi-channel surround sound venue at the Abrons Arts Center in lower Manhattan. It was a stimulating festival well run by Dr. Hubert Howe, professor emeritus at City University of New York, Queens. Thanks to the staff and other participants for an amazing week of electroacoustic music. Click can be heard in its stereo version on my audio page.
Once back in Charlotte, things got intense. I was one of the guest composers for the 2014 Charlotte New Music Festival. CNMF was founded by its Artistic Director and composer Elizabeth Kowalski. The festival began with an intense five-day computer music workshop focusing on Max and Pd. It culminated in a laptop orchestra performance in Charlotte’s funky pirate bar, Snug Harbor. I very much enjoyed the workshop and learned much from the participants and from my fellow faculty members David Schneider and Charles Nichols.
Immediately after the computer music workshop came two weeks of CNMF rehearsals, concerts, lessons, lectures, student presentations, dance collaborations, speed writing concerts, and camaraderie. It was great connecting with old friends and making new ones. The festival was intense, and in my opinion, a huge success. The participants were varied and talented, the performances first-rate, and the guest composers and musicians were wonderful. Members of the Pittsburg-based Freya Sting Quartet joined by pianist Blair McMillen performed two movements (I and V) of my piano trio Things Get Out of Hand, on my birthday! What a treat.
If you are looking for a unique experience in new music immersion, consider the Charlotte New Music Festival in June 2015.