New Music and Art Festival

It's over. I just left the reception in the lobby after the sixth and final concert of the festival. All the composers are exhausted, and their sense of camaraderie is that much stronger now. For me, the experience as a whole was far more positive than last year's. There are some negative things to say, but there's no need to go into those.

One of the highlights for me was having lunch with Samuel Adler Friday. There were only four of us, so it was comfortable and there was no competition for attention. I had a good talk with him about film music (of course). He had a lot of great things to say about John Williams, which I found refreshing, considering the amount of snobbish, negative things I hear around here. It was validating to hear Sam Adler say a lot of things I thought anyway. He also had a lot of praise for Bernard Herrmann and the older greats.

And it was nice to get some one-on-one advice about orchestration from the guy who literally wrote the book on it. Last year I had virtually no interaction with any of the guest composers. By the way, it seems that everyone knows Warren Gooch, my undergrad composition professor. Dr. Gooch really gets around!

Another good part of this festival was this morning, when the composers (students, faculty, and guests alike) all had a nice brunch at the car museum. Yes, apparently all my good memories revolve around food. No, seriously, it was nice to be appreciated. The purpose of the brunch was also to officially announce the new DMA program at BGSU in New Music. This degree is for performers as well as composers.

On a reflective note, it was after the festival last year that I became inspired to compose a certain piece. I had a vague idea for it at the time, but I was absolutely determinted to make it happen. I started really conceiving the piece in February, but it wasn't until this summer that I decided I was going to make this piece my thesis. Now, having been working on this composition for a few weeks now, I can say I feel pretty satisfied with how things are different than they were around 365 days ago. I have made some accomplishments since the miserable experience of last October. It's good to feel competent at least. Time to go listen to the end of the soundtrack to Ocean's 11... Clair de Lune...

Now I'm off to make an appearance at a Halloween party, then go home and slip into a nice long coma.