in the wings: December 2006

XIV

The contemplation of things as they are, without substitution or imposture, without error or confusion, is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of invention.

--Francis Bacon

A Clean Slate

2006 was a mess. Creatively, I ventured down some new but not entirely unfamiliar paths, composing two pieces for dance, performing in a storefront window radio booth, playing my two octave midi keyboard while seated in the center of a room walled by four giant video screens, traveling by bus in Mexico to a gig at a Zen center, learning Max/MSP and co-creating an installation for CCA and Stanford University's art department. I'll take more of such messiness. More more more, please.

Perhaps I'll detail the year-in-review next week while warming my feet in front of the childhood fireplace, but for now, I offer a peek at a few tantalizing projects in store for 2007. These include collaborations and/or showings of my work at ODC, The Field and the Oakland Columbarium, and with composers of the wildly imaginative ilk, from CNMAT to Princeton and hopefully beyond...

Wish List

To see these!

(And to collaborate with an architect...but that is a secret wish and a long story. Pianist & architect. Architect & composer. Performer & architect. Architect & fledgling electronic musician. I think it could be fabulous.)

Peace, Nöel & Cute Shepherds

I do not like to swoon over tenors. Give me the mystery of a rich true bass or a uniquely colored but very pure-toned soprano. This year, the Mission Dolores Basilica Choir presents the Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio as part of their annual holiday concert, and here's a secret: the tenor soloist just might make you melt. His voice is like silk! Until last week's rehearsal with all four soloists, I had been fairly unimpressed with the Oratorio. The soloists, however, brought out all of the operatic qualities in the work, something which amused me (now privy to Saint-Saens ulterior motive--l'opéra dans la cathédrale) and elevated my assessment of the work as a whole. It was no longer a collection of "numbers" musically parsed according to the liturgical text. The soloists add that necessary layer of drama and sass, beauty and yearning. I'm sold. The tenor sold me.

The Basilica concert is always a very special event. I invite everyone to attend and sing carols with us at the end! (Yours truly plays bongos. I kid you not.)

15th Annual Candlelight Christmas Concert
Sunday December 17th, 5pm
Mission Dolores Basilica, Sixteenth & Dolores Streets, San Francisco
Tickets $15 general, $12 students/seniors, and $25 reserved seating

From a Composer

Dear Heather--

This is art, whether 22 years or 202, we keep on doing what we must do. Unfortunately too many others are out there destroying things and people in the name of "good"! I do not think what I do is "good," but it will very likely not kill anyone, or destroy their home or land.

I am glad you are moving into the electronic shade--I have no idea what you will want to do with that knowledge, but surely the unexpected is always lurking where one least expects it.