29 May 2010

A Milestone of 50

Quite possibly, I should be more artistically annoyed than I am . . . harpsichordist Paul Cienniwa and I are playing part(s) of Lunar Glare as the Prelude to the service at First Church in Boston tomorrow morning, and it’s a 16-minute piece (which, I should check the recording of the première, actually ran to 20 minutes, and without feeling over-languorous) . . . so of course we aren’t going to play the whole thing. What I should perhaps be more annoyed over, is the paring away; but instead, I am just pleased to play even bits of it. It’s fun to play.

I was impaneled to serve on a jury, so that rather dominated the week . . . and I got an e-mail message from Paul on Thursday afternoon (not panicked, but righteously earnest) reminding me that I needed to give him the measure numbers of the excerpts we’re going to play this Sunday, so that he could rehearse the cut(s) yesterday. Check.






Great pleasure in the fact that DMC Duo in Atlanta are planning to take Angular Whimsies (Heavy Paint Manipulation) on tour (it’s even now on their web page, though with Whimsies whimsically spelled) in June. They’re playing here in Cambridge, Mass., and all along I have been hoping to attend the performance — but they’re playing on Monday the 21st, which is when the k a rl h e nn i ng Ensemble will play a big do in Woburn. Maybe timing will allow a quick jaunt afterwards to Cambridge, but I am doubtful. Better, perhaps, they are hoping to book another venue in Boston for a second performance. We shall see.




Hectic time, but I did (thankfully) remember to submit my ASCAPlus application yesterday; this is a program whereby the organization provides some modest monies to members whose royalties in any given year don’t amount to much (which is certainly the way I’ve been consistently rolling). The application is not difficult to submit, even easier in some ways now that it has been available as an on-line form. Especially easy for me, one might say, as I have no data to offer in the sections Recent Recordings nor Prizes, Honors, &c.

My strength on the form has always been “Recent Compositions (indicate if commissioned)” — which I always have healthily populated — and “Recent Performances of Your Original Compositions (including premières).”

It is this last field which was such a startling revelation when I set to filling out the application. This field lists piece by piece, separate dates and all (and even includes a couple of radio broadcasts from WERS 88.9 FM Boston). In all, from 1 June 2009 to 31 May 2010, I listed titles/performers/venues for 50 recent performances — as compared to seven for the period 1 June 2008 to 31 May 2009.

We make progress, I think.

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