i used “maxwell’s silver hammer” as an example in class today. and none of my students recognized it :(

a concert backdrop that says over 30 universities destroyed in iran against black and white picture of rubble

backdrop that says last standing university in gaza against a black and white image of al-israa university

giant three screen stage backdrop showing footage of the bombing of a university in gaza

The Strokes played Coachella against a backdrop listing all the world leaders that had been assassinated by the CIA, a count of the number of universities bombed in Iran, and footage of the bombing of the last university in Gaza

its only taken 15 months including 6 months after i finished writing the piece to come up with the title

thank god the premiere is in June and my baby “Deepfake” for cello, electronics and video can finally come to life

its thigh
marbled human thigh

ultraprocessed feast
sir it's mcdonalds at least

then again they never eat anything green
not very lean

does anyone have any experience licensing their scores to an academic library? how much did you charge for the licensing fee? the same as if you were to sell the score to an individual?

he, of course, circumvents this problem now by writing his own texts

oscar used to say that if you alter someone else's text you are doing violence to their work. for as much time as we spend thinking about music, someone else spent thinking about words. therefore, as a composer, you should only alter the text if you have substantial good reason to do so.

what was holding me back was the nitty gritty of how does the specific musical material and its internal logic overlap with the dramatic structure? does the music hold internal consistencies that support the dramatic arc that i wish to convey?

wait did you study with oscar also????

i was so concerned that a piece would be "formless" and therefore bad that it was hindering my ability to write ANYTHING. i was trying to paint-by-numbers through musical forms which was at odds with the musical material that i wanted to use

the problem with relearning piano as an adult is that is that i know what things are actually supposed to sound like and i can’t (yet) make it sound that way

my masters comp teacher had strong opinions about how that related to poetry and we discussed it often. i believe we spent multiple studio classes on it too. there were also entire classes on writing new vocal music in both my masters and doctoral program

form - i was way more preoccupied with it than any of my teachers especially in private lessons. they generally dissuaded me from thinking about it, focusing more on musical affect and effect

Judges Fired After Blocking Deportations of Pro-Palestinian Students

BREAKING: the judges who dismissed high-profile cases in immigration court against two international students who have advocated for Palestinian causes, Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi, were fired yesterday, alongside four other judges.

/w @haleaziz.bsky.social and @nicknehamas.bsky.social

as much as i want to be a hater, angine de poitrine kinda slaps

i think there is a TouchDesigner™️ look the same way there is a Max MSP™️ sound

just looking over an old essay i wrote about noise, genre and new music and lowkey i kinda cooked with it

always has been meme with two astronauts looking at earth one holding ag gun to the others head

always has been

photo credit: carlos felipe rosas

black and white photo of a singer covering her mouth standing in front of a screen with dramatic text written on it

if you told me a year ago that i would be this excited to share a piece inspired by the life of Joan of Arc, i would think you were crazy. anyways, here is the premiere of "jeanne" for voice and electronics performed by julia cordani

youtu.be/Doh5lE0KNh4?...

what...........

this makes sense! thank you!

Funny that we banished the women's studies scholars and critical race theorists immediately before proving everything they said more correct than they ever could have imagined.

is there a legit difference between the two terms? tbh i had never considered the similarity between them until now

so grateful for musicians, man. fuck war, fuck capitalism, fuck AI, let's all just go sit in a room together and listen to some dope ass sounds. life could be so beautiful if we let it

oh hi peter
the cellist on the left is a nice guy and a wonderful performer

aaron, hows your dissertation going?

well it made me realize that the word downward is weird because in what other situation would you have the letters w n w all right next to each other

so…… do with that what you will

I heard there was
a secret cord
that David kept
in his cable hoard
but he can never find it
when he needs it

Creativity is not a talent. It's a process and a practice available to everyone.

this very particular recording of rhapsody in blue

youtu.be/ImgqGv0TXCs?...