September 2009 Archives

I have an excuse, really

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So I haven't blogged lately, but not without reason.

One, there was that whole minimalism conference, which was fantastic.  It even earned me an invitation to give a presentation/performance at the New England Conservatory of music.

Here are some of the shots I got from the conference.

Here's me with Sarah Cahill, after I turned pages for her performance.  I only screwed it up once.

IMG_1889.jpgHere's me with the infamous Charlemagne Palestine.  His performance was amazing.  His personality something else.

IMG_1891.jpgHere are some of his stuffed animals.

IMG_1892.jpgHere's Tom Johnson, Sarah Cahill, and Charlemagne Palestine.

IMG_1893.jpgMe and Tom Johnson.

IMG_1894.jpgHere's a bunch of us from an after party (photo by Scott Unrein).  I'm wearing the wrong pants, apparently.

Scottphoto.jpgSo, that's a quick glance at the conference.  There's still a lot of archival work to be done yet, and much more I could say right now, but there is other news to attend to.

I'm busy.  I have three jobs - Artist-in-Residence at Avila University, Choral Accompanist at St. Teresa's Academy (I'm getting more catholic every day), and private teaching.  Plus I'm supposed to be practicing/writing.

Oh, and we're buying a house.  We'll be moving in mid-November if you'd like to help.  The new address will (hopefully) soon be 5618 W 78th Terr, Prairie Village, KS, 66208.  It's a 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath ranch with a half finished basement.  The taxes are high (for the KC area, that is), but this is definitely the area we've been wanting to live in.  I won't have much of a commute, it's an old, established, and beautiful neighborhood, and we could stay here for a while.  (Obama's $8000 didn't hurt, either.)

Here's the outside.  The pictures aren't great.  These are just what I got from the listing.
House1.jpgAnd again

House2.jpgLiving Room
House3.jpgKitchen
House4.jpgOk, so picture uploading isn't going well, so you can look at the photos here.

So, we're buying a house.  Hopefully I'll be able to keep you updated, but I don't necessarily anticipate that happening regularly.

So far, so good

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So the minimalism conference starts tomorrow, which for those of us who have been helping to plan it for a while seems a bit crazy.  I almost can't believe it's happening.

Ok, I just went back through my calendar and I found the date of our first planning meeting: April 16, 2008.  That's 503 days, or 1 year, 4 months, and 16 days from then until right now.  Whew.

Now for the final sprint to the finish.

There are so many things I'm looking forward to at this conference.  The concerts are going to be amazing, for one thing, and I'm even going to get to turn pages for Sarah Cahill.  Of course, if I mess anything up, in particular the Harold Budd piece, I know at least one person that will have me begging for death before he's through with me.  :)  I just can't believe we got everyone we hoped for.  I remember Scott doing a mock-up of the original poster with the artists listed and we all basically thought, "Man, I hope that comes true."  Well, It really is.

And let's not forget the papers, papers, papers.  For a guy who's looking to expand a 70-page research project into a dissertation this is going to be a gold mine of ideas.  Oh, and I'll be presenting some of my work as well.  Good news is, I must be saying something right (I'm mentioned in the last paragraph).

But getting to meet all these different people will no doubt be what is the most exciting aspect of this week.  I already got to pick up Tom Johnson (I played his piece, An Hour for Piano recently) from the airport last night, which then led to a evening of tomfoolery and shenanigans.  Turns out, when you get together a bunch of guys who all like the same thing, but never get to talk about it much, not even jet lag can kill the evening.  (It was our poor waitress's first night, if you can believe it.  I wonder if she quit her job.)

I'll have to haul my camera around with me from now on, but for now I can nab this from Kyle's blog.  Here's David McIntire (co-director), Pwyll Ap Sion (director of the 2007 conference), me (how'd I end up here?), Kyle Gann (co-director), and Tom Johnson (ex-pat composer).

MinimalistMcCoys.jpg
Wait, apparently I wasn't supposed to be smiling.  How will anyone take me seriously now.  :)

AGH!  I did it again.