Tag: composer blogging

Scratch That: Nothing More Than Feelings

Drama alert: we’ve received word of a Photographer Debacle at the Chicago Composers Orchestra concert last week. Apparently, an ill-informed photographer passed out his business card and introduced himself to many orchestra members…while they were performing. We’ll resist linking to his website for fear of retribution; wronged orchestral players and their allies can be a fierce and unforgiving bunch.

January is a difficult month for Scratch, as our usual concert-going days are occupied by unmissable NFL playoff action. Fortunately, someone in the advertising department understands that there’s a niche audience that wants to see legendary football players pretending to be piano virtuosos with great hair:


Does Scratch That seem a little jittery? That’s because we’re packing a suitcase and heading to New York City for the Chamber Music America conference! We’re especially excited for Saturday’s panel on women composers, and a career advising session where we can finally ask Astrid Baumgardner if writing this column is a good career move for us. You can follow @ellen_mcsweeney for live tweets of the conference, assuming we’ll be able to tear our naive Midwestern eyes away from the bright lights, tall skyscrapers, and impressively large attitudes.

Chicago will continue to hum with winter concerts while we’re away, including ICE bassoonist Rebekah Heller’s solo recital at Corbett vs. Dempsey. She’s performing new works by Chicago composers Marcos Balter and Daniel Dehaan. This evocative blog post from Dehaan describes the epic motorcycle trip he took in order to capture the sights and sounds of Alaska (and much of the West Coast). You know—just your average “creative process” post.

Is it just us, or are musicians starting to blog about their feelings more? Either way, we’re in favor. This post from Luke Gullickson resonated, and this one from Emily Wright inspired. Keep up the good work, people.