Happy November!
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Mine was quiet, but I got to talk to my kids for quite a while, which was great.
So much happened this month, and there is a lot to be thankful for.
I was hired as the new accompanist for the Swannanoa Valley Community Chorus.
This chorus started in February and is still in its start-up phase. Now that I am out of school, I am very excited to be getting more connected with musicians and ensembles in the region. It is definitely helping North Carolina feel more like home.
I won my first grant!
I had applied for a grant through the Burke County Council for the Arts, which distributes money from the North Carolina State Council for the Arts. These arts councils get funding from the state, and often from the federal government through the National Foundation for the Arts. Most funding goes to arts organizations, but some smaller grants are distributed to individual artists.
My grant is funding my work on a new microtonal chamber opera titled Mirrors. The libretto (text) is by my friend, Kristen Castrataro. I will be getting some help setting the text in a microtonal context from Kirsten Kunkle, who is the leading Native American soprano and is also a composer.
The opera will be for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone and a chorus of 6-9. The tentative instrumentation is Pierrot Ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano) + metal percussion.
Paul Pulsipher and I have set up our concerts to premiere Variations of Transformation, our co-composed piece.
The concerts will also feature some of our solo work and an additional piano duet by another composer.
We are performing in Nashville, TN on January 24 and Hickory, NC on January 31.
You can purchase tickets to the Hickory concert here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1975122257842?aff=oddtdtcreator
Two of my scores were accepted into upcoming conferences.
Who Has Seen the Wind, for soprano and piano, will be performed at the International Festival of Music by Women in Mississippi, in March.
Three Short Pieces, arranged for clarinet, will be performed at the Society of Composers SE regional conference in March, which will take place at Appalachian State. I am also accompanying some art songs at the conference.
John also had a piece accepted into a different conference (One at Heidelburg University, also in March.)
March will be a very busy month!
