But what I think I really loved about it was that it was a truly special community to join for the summer. It's unusual among composition programs in that, in addition the composers and performers, there's also a large contingent of adult amateur musicians who study chamber music, coached by the professionals who perform our works. They were really interesting people to talk to and a friendly, intelligent, enthusiastic audience—the kind of listeners that it's a real pleasure to be around. And the performers treated our music with more than just professionalism; I felt extraordinarily well cared for, as a composer. And many of the performers and amateur musicians have been coming to Wellesley for years. Even though I didn't have old friends to meet up with there, it's hard not to feel happy in an environment where people are joyfully reuniting constantly.
It was refreshing to spend all day every day listening to and thinking about music. I'm home again now and just starting the school year, after a month spent with family in LA post-Wellesley. And while I'm very glad to be home, and I missed my cats and my bed and my slightly sad-looking fig tree, it's an adjustment to get used to juggling time for music with time for teaching, time for singing, time for being with friends, time for running errands and doing chores. While I was home in LA, I wrote Orography, a short piece for soprano/great bass recorders, accordion, percussion, and piano. It'll be performed October 12th as part of the first Berkeley New Music Project concert of the semester, also featuring works by my friends Heather Frasch, Dave Coll, and Daniel Cullen. That concert will feature guest performers Tosiya Suzuki (recorder), Stefan Hussong (accordion), Kuniko Kato (percussion), and Satoshi Inagaki (piano). (There will also be a second concert this semester, following our normal, anything-goes format and the Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players.)
Next up is the full version of Searchlight Songs for Janet McKay, an dear friend and fabulous flutist. She's performed the shorter, original version (which I thought of as a kind of proof-of-concept study piece) here in the USA while on tour last spring, and has since been featuring it in concerts in her native Brisbane as well. Janet has a clear, lovely, mid-range singing voice, and she's a thoughtful, intense presence onstage. I chose to write a piece for her that makes extensive use of singing while playing, combining and teasing apart those two voices. I'm really looking forward to it.
(Pictured above: Performance of The Garden of Forking Paths at the Wellesley Composers Conference: Mary Nessinger, mezzo-soprano; Barry Crawford, flute/piccolo; Jean Kopperud, Bb clarinet/bass clarinet; Christopher Oldfather, piano; Stephen Paysen, percussion; Cyrus Stevens, violin; Michael Finckel, cello; James Baker, conductor.)
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