We Can Change the Country, Essay (2020)
This is not a composition; it’s a protest. This is not a performance; it’s a demonstration. This is a political work of art. I wrote it to express the hypocrisy of a nation that continues to deny its history, a history that has and will continue to define our future.
On Performing Fluxus in 2020
Spring rolls around, the world shelters-in-place, and life as we know it is over. How can Fluxus address this?
The Flauto d’Amore Project: A New Language for New Communication
My goal was to bring new life to an instrument that fell into the cracks of history. When the pandemic hit, we wanted to have this instrument become a communal element for artists stuck in their studios all over the world to find creative stimulation.
"Calls for Scores" - The Teenage Years of a Composing Career
What is the role of submitting to calls for scores and competitions in the grand scheme of building a career? Are there wholesome and compassionate ways that calls for scores and/or composition competitions can support artists even if they don’t win the “big prize”? How do we develop from this seemingly “teenage” part of our career and move on to becoming fully-fledged professionals?
Why Artist-Driven Change is Exactly What We Need Right Now
I ordered about 80 scores by BIPOC composers, sight unseen, so that I could be surrounded by unfamiliar things to explore. I’ve been lucky to have conversations with some of the composers as a part of that discovery phase, too. I’m still early in the process of reading through the scores I’ve amassed, but that work is probably my favorite part of the job.
How Audition Requirements Exclude
I challenge my colleagues across the country to examine their required repertoire lists for both auditions and graduation recitals. Ask yourselves—who do these lists exclude? Who does this list benefit or advantage? How can I make these requirements a better reflection of our current time? How can these lists further institutional and/or industry goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion?
Eyes Wide Shut—The Case Against Blind Auditions
I’ve called for an end to the practice of blind auditions for years. To make a contentious change requires the buy-in of many different kinds of people. One person’s call for “representation” is another’s outrage at “quotas.” I believe we can—and should—elevate this conversation past that endless, tiresome tug-of-war. Rather than going in circles, I ask: what would have to be true for all of us to agree on the potential benefits of revising the process?
Online Score Sales for Self-Published Composers
How can you get your music in front of the right musicians in a format that makes it easy for them to purchase, download, and start practicing your pieces right away?
The Big Pivot: Moving Urban Birds from the Park to the Internet
In March of 2020 Synchromy was busy planning their Urban Birds concert when safer-at-home ordinances shut down all public events in Los Angeles. Urban Birds faced either cancellation or becoming one of the hundreds of livestream concerts flooding the internet.
Sounding and Writing Good: Composer Ethics When Writing for Children
What music should high schoolers sing? What should even younger children sing? Following the line of logic where they can’t sing truly “good” music, it seems they should and can only sing “bad” music. However, this mentality poses an interesting question for composers tasked with writing music for children. If we are trained to write “good” music, how should we write for children?
Bringing Artistic Communities Together for Black Lives
When everyone saw the disgusting, undeniable murder of George Floyd by Minnesota police, that was when we both immediately took to action and joined the protests out in the streets. We came to work together to organize an online benefit concert for Black Lives Matter this Friday, July 31 at 7-10pm EDT.
Innovations and Experimentations in Distanced Choral Singing
While the entire music sector has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the choral community has been hit especially hard. There might not be a safe way for choirs to safely rehearse for an entire year or more in the future, which has affected some 40 million people in the United States who rely on choirs for the social community, mental health, and emotional well-being.
Leveraging the Quarantine to Create an Online Music Camp
My plans to attend the Brevard Music Center’s Summer Institute had been canceled due to COVID-19, so we were planning out the logistics for me to host my own summer camp—The Composers Collaborative Project (CCP). It is my attempt to leverage the quarantine to create a unique opportunity for composers seeking a path to continue developing their skills.
Reflections on Segregation and Representation in Choral Music
In the wake of global demonstrations and protests against police brutality and racial discrimination, I’d like to use this opportunity to take a broad look at the choral landscape in terms of diversity, confronts questions that existing research present, and shares some resources and recommendations for potential ways to create space in choral music so that it might more accurately reflect the world we live in.
How Can Artists Respond to Injustice? Thoughts from Seven Musicians
I knew I wanted to hear from artists I believed in, who have been thinking deeply, and for many years, about the role of musicians in enacting social change.
Emerge, Bridge, Connect
The task of “emerging” artists is to slowly grow into their industry. To create their community, one conversation at a time.
For Our Courageous Workers
For Our Courageous Workers, a 4-movement, 11-minute long graphic piece I conceived which was composed together with Hajnal Pivnick and Dorian Wallace, was intended to fulfill many purposes. To call attention to the risks that front-line essential workers face, doing the jobs that allow us to live and survive through this virus period, and to celebrate them and their work. To inspire the people of the city, isolated by necessity and decree, and bring them together through music.
Pandemic, Blind Spots, and the Story of Ignaz Semmelweis
Raymond Lustig’s 2018 opera SEMMELWEIS, which is based on the story of 19th-century Hungarian physician who pioneered hand washing and antiseptic procedures, is streaming for free this month online. We asked Lustig to share his thoughts about Semmelweis’s ongoing relevance in our own time.
Anthony Davis Wins 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Music
Anthony Davis has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his opera The Central Park Five.
6 Strategies for Using Time Effectively During COVID-19
Ideas for treating lockdown as an opportunity rather than an imposition.
Beginning Again
I am, once and for all, the eternal beginner. – Gustav Mahler, 1909 I read this sentence over a century after it was written, six months after leaving an abusive relationship and trying to begin my life, in general and as a composer, again. At that time, everything felt new and nigh impossible; going outside,… Read more »
Our Journey to Olly Wilson: Remixed and Beyond
Our own journey with Olly Wilson began in 2014. We were entranced by the music and intrigued by the man, who clearly carried a special spirit. As a “Special COVID-19 Pandemic Release,” 100% of the proceeds from the sale of our recording Olly Wilson: Remixed will be donated to the New Music Solidarity Fund.
