Conductor's Notebook
Writings, including academic papers and music criticism, as well as videos, audio, notes, and other content.
NEW ALBUM: Symphony Number One has recorded every concert from its founding, releasing the best new music by stunning voices, many of whom are being heard widely for the very first time. Our fourth release, Approaching, features works in three sizes–small, medium, and large–from three of today’s hottest new composers, all lovingly prepared and performed by Symphony Number One in Baltimore.
I think one of the reasons I find this so appealing is that I didn’t initially discover Bruckner through his symphonies. My initial vector was through singing his motets in college. So, I think I never formed my mental Bruckner totem around his orchestrations but rather around his harmonic language, expressed in a capella choral music, as a tool to focus on reverence for The Divine, for The Higher Ideals, and for Our Better Nature. In a word, God.
I am pleased to announce that I will be joining the team at the Frederick Regional Youth Orchestra as the Conductor of the Frederick Regional Youth Orchestra Symphonia as well as a staff chamber music coach. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Music Director Stephen Czarkowski and the whole team at FRYO
Dear Representative Cummings,
I am writing to urge you to support FY17 and FY18 funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The NEA is a critical component in the network of public, private, corporate, and philanthropic support. Total direct grants by the agency are anticipated to reach more than 33 million people attending live arts events through NEA-supported programs. Grants to orchestras build innovative and civically vibrant communities such as ours by supporting arts education for children and adults, providing citizen access to performances, preserving great classical works, and nurturing the creative endeavors of contemporary classical musicians, composers, and conductors.
But there was one person who indefatigably stuck by me at this juncture, at the hour of greatest need. This was the same guy who was the very first to write me to express interest in getting the project going in the first place, all the way back in August 2014. In March 2015 at that coffee meeting, I had to ask him, in the midst of what had become a chaotic environment, where he stood. He told me, "I'm still in. At this point, I feel a moral commitment to help get this thing off the ground." And get it off the ground, we did....
Originally published in Baltimore:
It’s hard to believe that just a year ago, all of Baltimore waited with anticipation for the exciting inauguration of the festival called Light City. We wondered: What would this “light art” look like? Would the weather cooperate? Would the tourists show up? No one knew for sure, but everyone could feel the energy crackling.
ALBUM: …Now, for the first time, we are releasing a full-length album exclusively featuring emerging composers. More represents the best of Symphony Number One: three stimulating new works for chamber orchestra by a slate of three of the next generation's most promising voices, all lovingly prepared and performed in Baltimore.
I recently began contributing to Baltimore Magazine. Here's my first piece:
Wendel Patrick, “Let’s Ride”
The holidays get me thinking about sleigh rides, which, while they weren’t the inspiration for this track, still make me think of “Let’s Ride.” The vintage keyboard sounds alongside spicy drumbeats and clean electric guitars make this a perfect fit for our off-the-beaten-path sleigh ride. When you’re finished, check out some of Patrick’s other projects and collaborations, like the Baltimore Boom Bap Society and Bond St. District.
