Breath, Contained

I'm happy to share a new video of Tonia Ko'sBreath, Contained! We were fortunate to be able to take over the Sibley Dome at Cornell for a show with always-astounding Sandbox Percussion, pairing Tonia's work for bubble wrap and electronics with Mark Applebaum's Straitjacket and Reich's Music for Pieces of Wood. Thanks for David Parks for the great video. Tonia has been drawing on and playing  transparent surfaces for some time, but the quintet version of Breath, Contained is her biggest work so far.  The five of us each play a selection of bubble wraps, each of which is capable of generating a multutude of squeaks,squawks, rustles, taps.  After exploring these sounds with a few studies for large and small bubbles (and a solo version of the piece, which I've been performing for some time), Tonia created a new set of electronics, which manipulate our sound in real time through a panoply of filters, resonators, and other electronic devices.  Tonia's studies for large and small bubbles. If that weren't enough, Tonia made a creative and beautiful graphic score to guide us:

Slip-Slidin' Away

I'm super proud to be a part of this amazing piece, and can't wait to see where Tonia takes it.  In the meantime, stay tuned for video of Straitjacket…

Unexcused Absence

I've been AWOL from this site for some time.  More updates coming soon!  In the meantime, I'm getting into the Thanksgiving spirit, and am thankful to Neil and Scott at Vic Firth for making this excellent video of Impressions. Fortunately, the doesn't require a good Sean Connery voice.

Breath, Contained

Working on my bubble wrap performance practice today, in preparation for Friday's concert at the Carriage House.  Luckily, Tonia Ko made a great video of her own performance of Breath, Contained.  Tonia has been planning to turn this piece (and her artwork on bubble wrap) into a week-long art installation in the Sibley Dome at Cornell in March of 2015, culminating in a performance of a longer version of the work, which will be paired with other percussion music.  Stay tuned for news on that!

Avaloch

Hannah and I are currently in residence at Avaloch Farm Music Institute, a place for us to work intensely on some new repertoire and circle the wagons on some New Morse Code classics.  We've brought composer pal Sam Adams with us, and are working together on a new piece, as well as reading some trios, going apple picking, and canoeing in the nearby lake.  More news (and photos of orchards, beautiful antiques, delicious food, etc) is forthcoming.  

3rd Construction

Thanks Cristóbal, for posting this low-res but high energy Third Construction from a few years back.  What fun!