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an innumerable amount of MonThs

10/5/2018

Words, category lyrics - 1
(It's Thursday right?)

I am the crow, and the crow am I
When the nights are still, in my dreams I fly
When my thoughts are silent, I cry out why, for
I am the crow, and the crow am I

I'm going to do something with this sometime.

An Innumerable Amount of M(ondays) on Th(ursdays)

9/20/2018

Upcoming: Tough Cookies! the musical, at Cornish on November 18th. Song lists might be helpful for reading the following.

Words, category nonsense - 1
Captain's Log

Day 1: 9/5/18
It has not come yet to pass that the project “An Innumerable Amount of M(ondays) on Th(ursdays)” is started when I have already ignored my own rules and dissolved into chaos. Act 1 is due in 12 days and we are adrift in lists, conundrums, and madness. May the lords of direction, clarity, breath, and look fondly on us.
Day 2: 9/6/18
The skies were clear today with a successful conclusion of a finished structure with the first of an innumerable amount of posts went up. Here’s hoping for a successful night of sleep to prepare for the dive.
Day 3: 9/7/18
Words were checked. The oceans however turned a blue so melancholy, that the pods stagnated.
Day 4: 9/8/18
The pods continued to barely hold under rough and deep blue waters though while growth was minimal, they did not collapse under the pressure. Some sun appeared briefly with the reaffirmation of the Scout Vow in its new and improved form though was quickly lost in low hanging clouds in hues of grey and sadness.
Day 5: 9/9/18
The water is wide, the dive is deep, but the music continues. Pods did a massive growth spurt today which cheered the troupes immensely. Hints of the surface may continue.
Day 6: 9/10/18
Our pods have reached fruition in a song that makes us dance even at the 50th time of hearing. We have temporarily surfaced in a glory of song for the teamwork and dreamwork of industry and friendship. Sunny days ahead.
Day 7: 9/11/18
On the upside, questions have short fixes. Sun continues.
Day 8: 9/12/18
Waves are picking up and clouds moving in. Brace yourselves.
Day 9: 9/13/18
They say it’s going to be great but the future is bleak. Incorrect vocal lines must be amended, dual melodies must be added, and let’s not even address the music. Tie yourself to the captain’s chair for the next leg will be rougher than initially anticipated.
Day 10: 9/14/18
Mired in vocal lines. Layers of vocal lines tangled up can catch no fish.
Day 11: 9/15/18
Mired in piano accompaniment. We are behind the scheduled voyage.
Day 12: 9/16/18
Great joy and celebration. It’s Gonna Be Great is gonna be great with fierce joy, angst, and influences of REM. The evening fell late but with beautiful clear skies with the wind at our backs and a subtle tear in the eye.
Day 13: 9/17/18
We have thought like cookies, and came to a satisfactory but dull ending in tepid water.
Day 14: 9/18/18
Edits, edits, and edits for now an epic conclusion which warmed up the water to where it needed. We are 6 miles behind with a month to go, blustery weather ahead. Watch above for abundant rain of compositional time and the winds of clear direction.

An Innumerable Amount of M(ondays) on Th(ursdays)

9/6/2018

Updates: Keep a head's up for info about Tough Cookies! The Musical (coming in November), Website under construction (again), Parentheses are great (obviously).

Structure - 1
Time House (the bird in)
for the Live Music Project - livemusicproject.org
for toy piano, viola, and bass

April - An Extremely Terse Summary

5/14/2018

-THINGS THAT BREAK happened.
http://www.waywardmusic.org/event/things-that-break/
-It got a review.
http://www.seattlemag.com/arts-and-culture/jessi-harvey-strings-together-things-break
-WRCMS assigned the performers I'll be collaborating with.
-Writing a piece for the Live Music Project.
-Part of 52 Weeks of Flute.
-The work continues.

March: A Retrospect and Things That Break: About

4/2/2018

One thing that can be said for Things That Break in the music portion – it consists of 828 original measures of music. Most of which have been written and edited in the month of March. So essentially my March retrospect is: I wrote, and wrote, and worked, and wrote, and wrote, and worked, and then wrote some more. As an addition to the first draft of this post, my March had a celebratory ending with being asked to participate in the Waterloo Region New Music Sessions this summer.

So, before this blog post, two things about me: A) I am not the most naturally talkative or explanatory person in the universe and B) in honor of my concert, I am breaking in that tradition.

I first came up with the idea for my concert the day after the mess that was the latest presidential election: I was heading to work, for a collaborative composition project and as I was riding the bus, my thought was that people seemed shattered. No one talked, no one looked at each other: dead silence. And what began playing in my head was both America the Beautiful and Jimmy Hendrix’s version of the Star-Spangled Banner. Thus, became my improvised solo trumpet piece, The Beautiful.

After putting this together, I realized that many ideas I had for pieces dealt with the idea of breaking. With the idea of my concert I knew that this was not a solo venture and so I asked, and was lucky enough that they said yes, Becky Joy Aitken, stop-motion animator, Sonya Harris, photographer and teller of stories, and Aimee Hong, music director and performer, if they would join in my exploration of breaking. We have all explored this concept in different ways: I have taken the serious and personal route, Sonya from a route of discovery, Becky from the land of quirkiness, and Aimee from engagement and reflection.

Pieces I’ve put together for concerts, an entire concert, never. And so began my education into arts administration. Meetings for content, meetings for context, funding in all its various forms, networking (which I’ve just decided is making new friends – a lovely endeavor), finding the concert space, finding performers, creating a rehearsal schedule, more meetings, finding rehearsal spaces, figuring out sound people, rehearsing, advertising, organization. Endless emailing. Thank you to all the wonderful women who agreed to be part of my project.

To the content of the concert! Beyond The Beautiful, there is The Vision Cow Returns, a piece that ruminates on the breaking into enlightenment in a musical combination of the 8 Noble truths of Buddhism and bizarre animal stories a la David Sedaris’ Squirrel Meets Chipmunk in a response to the Edward Espe Brown’s poem, The Vision Cow. The third piece, Song for a Harbor, is a diminution of the semi-diurnal tides of the Puget Sound and a tribute to a friend and mentor. The final piece and title of the concert, Things that Break, you’ll have to come to hear to find the story behind it.

This is the first concert of entirely my music, curated by me, collaborating with other art forms. This past year has been a delight and looking forward to its culmination this Friday.

Per usual, thank you to Sonya Harris for the photos during our second rehearsal.

February Summary - Belated and Short

3/17/2018

Days in February - 28
Days Sick - 22
Days it takes to get caught up - TBD

January Summary - a LIST

2/4/2018

Classes Taught: 128
Books Read: 4 - Cage: How to Improve the World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse), Garff: Kierkegaard's Muse, The Mystery of Regine Olsen, Kay: The Summer Tree, Livio: The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved.
Concerts attended: 3 - Composer's Salon, Seattle Symphony, Puppet Opera
Double bars: 3 - Songs selections from Tough Cookies! The Musical
Recordings: 3 - See above
Conferences attended: 1 - NUMUS Northwest

2017: An Inventory

1/1/2018

Before diving into 2018, and the list that is waiting, a look back at 2017:

Made a website. (January)
Started an Instagram account. (January)
Co-led a talk at my first conference, NUMUS Northwest, on facilitating collaborative composition. (January)
Co-founded Kaboom City Music, LLC which provides a variety of music classes to students ages 2-12. (February)
Co-led and completed a collaborative composition project with students from Path With Art, based on the theme "We are all here" as part of the Seattle Symphony's Simple Gifts Initiative. Performed by the students themselves and Seattle Symphony musicians at the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall. (March)
For the third year in a row, was one of the arrangers for the Seattle Symphony's Lullaby Project. (April)
Began my summer project, which extended into winter, that combined my love of space and physics with composing and experimented with new compositional methods. Thank you to everyone that helped! (June)
Finished a piano piece based on a friend's philosophy's addressing what it means to be a composer. Third and Fourth Movements were performed at the Composer Salon by Christopher Morris-Lent. (July)
The Questionable Efforts of Monkey was performed at the LA Art Share by Strange Interlude and Kaley Lane Eaton. (July)
Began collaborating on a new musical with Emily Cawley to be read through in February of 2018. (July)
Began the process of putting together THINGS THAT BREAK, a multidisciplinary concert experience with Becky Aitken, Sonya Harris, and Aimee Hong. Save the date for April 6. (September)
The Multiverse, the final movement of my summer project, was performed at the first Kin of the Moon concert by Kaley Lane Eaton, Leanna Keith, and Heather Bentley. (November)
Performed violin for the first time in three years. (December)
Received the 4Culture Tech Specific Grant for THINGS THAT BREAK. (December)
And delightfully, have made my living solely through musical work.
On the non-musical side, I also took my first solo trip and crossed off another 5 places on my 150 best places in the world to get a beer.

All and All, despite the status of the world, we create. Thank you to everyone I have been lucky enough to create with this past year and looking forward to the next.

Chapter 6 - The Multiverse

11/27/2017

Here we are, these never-ending stories with endless variations.

Note: 'Tis done!

Chapter 5 - Mirror Symmetry

10/9/2017

Scene: Upstairs hallway.
Two mirrors, one ornate, one plain, look upon each other in an infinite, balanced loop.