Woke up and had free breakfast at the hotel and walked to the college for the Fresno New Music Festival. It began with a master class with professor emeritus Jack Fortner. He talked about his music and his compositional approach to the 4 pieces he presented. The pieces were written very well it was great to hear him and his music. My parents had come up form So Cal to see me and hear my piece. I met up with them and attended the University High School Orchestra. For a high school orchestra playing mew music they did an incredible job. There were some nice pieces on the concert. There was a reception after the concert. Free Food. Talked to Jack Fortner about music and composer and talked to university High School Orchestra Director Johnathan Malcolm about a possible performance of my music.
The next concert was the Fresno State Percussion Ensemble. Good percussion ensemble. The 60 x 60 concert was next. Simply put, it is an electroacoustic concert that contains 60 compositions form 60 composers and each piece being 60 seconds or less. The pieces are played with a visual algorithm which is shaped by piece in real time and a analog clock showing the passage of time. There were some great moments during the concerts.
The music ensemble Conundrum came in after the concert to rehearse. I met them and they told me they really loved my piece. My piece was the 1st one they chose for this concert. I got to listen to the rehearsal of my piece and it was amazing. I heard things in my piece that I had not heard before. The ebb and flow of the melody between the flute and clarinet sounded like a wave flowing between them. The pianist had such a smooth touch and the soprano had so much energy. It was a fantastic experience. I then went to the lobby for a reception for the composers. (More free food.) More great conversations with fellow composers and also spending some time with my supported parents. All the composers were really cool people. We are all in the same struggle to get our music heard. Then the Conundrum concert. They are such a great group. There were some really nice pieces on the concert. Heard mine again and it felt like I was taken somewhere else. It was such a great performance of it. After the concert I got a picture with them. There are such a nice group of people and quite silly. I received some nice compliments on my piece which was really validating. Ken Froelich, the music composition professor at Fresno State, did a great job with setting up the New Music Festival. He is also a good composer and great to talk to. We all then went to BJ's for our after concert food consumption and concert high recovery. Mom and DD joined the table of composer and musicans and great conversations. I had such a fantastic time and made some great contacts.
Posted by Eric at April 19, 2008 10:50 PM