Performing the U.S. Premiere of Luigi Nono's Quando stando morendo for 4 female voices, bass flute, cello, and live electronics.
Post-performance with Eklemes Vocal Ensemble, Mariel Roberts (cellos), Ashley Addington (bass flute), and Jeff Gavett (conductor)
I’m excited to share a project that I have been working on with Gregory‘s organization Amp New Music. The project is a concert at the Italian Academy in NYC with the vocal ensemble ekmeles which will feature the U.S. premiere of Luigi Nono’s Quanndo stando morendo and a premiere of Greg’s new piece for chamber ensemble and electronics. I’ll be playing in both works including some wild bass flute on the Nono piece.
Although Amp New Music has received support from the Italian Academy and Luigi Nono’s Archive in Venice, it will not cover all of the expenses for the concert so we’ve created a Kickstarter campaign to raise money. Our fundraising target is $2000; Kickstarter uses an all-or-nothing funding model, so we have to meet or exceed that goal in order to receive any of the pledges. Be sure to check out our Kickstarter video describing the project, it’s awesome.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ampnewmusic/us-premiere-of-luigi-nonos-quando-stanno-morendo
(courtesy of the Italian Academy)
Saturday, Feb. 25th – Music of Beat Furrer and Helmut Lachenmann
http://www.soundicon.org/#!concerts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn5QMami8_g
Sunday, Feb. 26th – Music of Igor Stravinsky and F.J. Haydn
http://www.indianhillmusic.org/2_1_1_ClassicalSeries.html#ChoralFeb
Thursday, March 15th – Playing with soprano Susan Bonito and pianist Michelle Kelley for Variations on a Theme by Mozart by Adolph Adam
http://www.indianhillmusic.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKxGrL7uvlg
(Video won’t embed so click the link to listen!)
2011 was a really great year. It brought many memorable musical performances, wonderful students, multiple airplane trips traveling across the country, and fun visits in Boston from family and dear friends. I was inspired by the idea for a “Year in Review” post from reading some other blogs and decided to make a post about my own journey in 2011. To remember what happened each month, I’ve had to reference calendars, e-mail and iPhoto to remember everything that took place. I found pictures from most months except for February, April, and September, in which I can only find pictures of my cat or things I baked.
Snow, snow, and more snow! I think we got around 40 inches in January alone. I think I had at least 4 days of teaching to reschedule due to the snow. By the end of the month, there were snow many piles everywhere that it was hard to find places to shovel the new snow.
An empty Davis Square in the middle of a snow storm
February cat picture since I couldn’t find any others.
Greg and I traveled to Austin in the middle of the month as he attended SXSW Interactive and I helped Carmen with some wedding details. I got to see her new house for the very first time and we went on a quest to satisfy our thirst for authentic Mexican food (which is not found in Boston!). I flew back to Boston to two intense weeks of outreach quintet concerts, Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, and Sound Icon’s inaugural concert.
Austin Java downtown near City Hall
Dropping Greg off at SXSW
April was spent recovering from March and getting ready for May! I spent time planning Carmen’s Bridal Luncheon and consulting on wedding details. The only pictures from this month are of the cat.
Dolce is excited that all the snow is gone because she can go outside again for “walks” on her leash.Shortly after, I finished up the teaching semester and headed off to Switzerland to join eighth blackbird at a new music festival. I met some new friends, played good music, and soaked up the beautiful Swiss countryside.
View of Lake Geneva from Chexbres Village
L-R David Trum (composer, me, Megan Ihnen (mezzo-soprano), Kerrith Livengood (flute/composer), and Nick Photinos (cello)
I flew back to Boston after an unexpected extra day in Paris thanks to Air France maintenance strikes and was happily reunited with Greg and my kitty. I taught a week-long flute camp to a bunch of really great kids. Mid-week during lunch, one of my flutists ran to come get me because a giant snapping turtle appeared in the creek by their lunch area. At first, I really didn’t believe that it would be a giant snapping turtle but they were correct! I hadn’t been outside a minute when the giant snapping turtle floated up to the surface and clamped down on a normal-sized turtle that had been nicknamed “Sheldon Jr.” earlier that week. You can watch a video clip to gauge the snapping turtle’s size. This was taken after Sheldon Jr. was turtle-napped.
Click here for video of giant turtle.
Who says art therapy doesn’t work? I found this drawing on one of the bulletin boards at the end of the day.
Art Therapy soothes turtle attack memories.
My old roomie, Lindsey, came to visit Boston for a few days. We hit up the beach at Plum Island, drank cocktails at Top of the Hub, rode the Swan Boats, picked blueberries, and caught up on everything that has been happening in our lives.
Blueberry picking with Lindsey
This month featured a visit from Carmen and Kathryn where I took my 3rd trip of the season to Rockport. We also went to Wingaersheek Beach for the first time.
Carmen’s “Lobster” at Roy Moore Lobster Company in Rockport
The school year aka “teaching time” and performance season started up again! I’ll spare you the cute cat picture for this month.
Greg’s entire family came to visit in October. We took our visitors on a trip to Bearskin Neck in Rockport, Halibut Point State Park, Essex, and the Topsfield State Fair to see the giant pumpkins. We also took the obligatory Freedom Trail Tour, walked the Public Gardens, watched the 2011 Honkfest Parade, and visited Harvard Square during Oktoberfest.
Extreme Gardening – The Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off in Progress
Obligatory Texas Longhorn Picture at the Topsfield State Fair
I thought this was a very creative sign to discourage smoking in the barns.
Harvard Square T with Cindy
October ended with a visit from my mom (sadly no pictures) and several concerts.
Just as the New England winter weather was starting to sneak in, we escaped to Florida for a family vacation with my parents and sister. We left on a cruise ship out of Ft. Lauderdale and docked at San Juan, PR, St. Marteen, St. Thomas, and a private Bahamas Island owned by Princess Cruises.
Ocean View from El Morro Fort, San Juan, PR
On the Catamaran “Party Boat”
Pre-snorkeling sunscreen application.
Kayaking in Magens Bay, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Goofing around in the Bahamas with my sister
One of the many beautiful sunsets seen from the boat.
Although the plan was to spend a quiet Christmas in Boston, we flew to Washington, D.C. for 2 days to spend Christmas with my extended family and visit with my Grandfather.
Wishing everyone all the best for a prosperous and lively 2012!
Please consider supporting a project that composer Pamela Marshall has launched as part of two new music creations for new music ensembles. One of those ensembles is the Addington/Arnold duo in which I perform with cellist Rachel Arnold.
http://www.rockethub.com/projects/4144-spindrift-commissioning-guild-2012
Spindrift Commissioning Guild is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the purposes of Spindrift Commissioning Guild must be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Your support fuels a commission fee for the composer, fees for the musicians for recording the music, and money to press the CD, make initial copies of the printed scores, and produce a few T-shirts and tote bags. 6% covers the fiscal sponsorship fee. Additional money will support a concert and recording sessions for other pieces in the queue.
More details are available on the link above! Thanks for supporting this project!
Fall in New England wouldn’t be complete without a scenic drive and a visit from Greg’s family was the perfect reason to head out of the city for a day.
Bearskin's Neck in Rockport
Boats in Rockport Harbor
The view of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine from the Ocean Lookout at Halibut Point State Park
We spent the morning walking in Rockport, exploring the old Granite Quarry in Halibut State Park, and checking out antique stores in Essex. My favorite part of the day was our spontaneous visit to the famous Topsfield Fair. A few years ago, we watched a documentary called Lords of the Gourd: The Pursuit of Excellence on giant pumpkins (check out more information here) and since then, I’ve had a secret obsession with going to the Topsfield Fair to watch the Giant Pumpkin Contest. I had already researched the Topsfield Fair as a possibility for a visit on our excursion and since we were only a few miles away and looking for something do to in the afternoon, we headed on over.
Giant Pumpkins!
Close-up of the giant pumpkins.
Pumpkin vs. Man.
Weighing of the Pumpkins.
When we left, the largest pumpkin had weighed in at 660 pounds! The eventual winner weighed in at 1,668.5 pounds. A story about the winner is here. Before they weighed the pumpkins, they weighed and measured other vegetables in what was called “Xtreme Gardening”. The winners were a 160-pound watermelon, 14-pound rutabaga, 124-inch tall Gourd, and a 4-pound tomato. The giant pumpkins were pretty amazing to see and it was fun to sit in the stands and overhear all of the Giant Pumpkin farmers sitting close to use talk about how they grow their pumpkins.
Between traveling, teaching summer camps, and having friends visit, this summer has flown by quickly. I’m enjoying my last few days of free evenings before the teaching year gears up again. (I really shouldn’t complain too much since my teacher friends in Texas have already been working for a few weeks.)
There are several exciting performances happening this season. I’ve updated my performance calendar for the next six months. Keep checking back for updates.
One of my favorite friends, Lindsey, came up to Boston to visit back in July. We took a day trip up to Newburyport and sat on the beach. She also has a new job teaching at Southeastern Louisiana University. Congratulations!
On the Beach at Plum Island, Newburyport, MA
A baby seal came out of the water to rest on the beach for a few minutes. We were worried that he wasn’t feeling well but a representative from the New England Aquarium was on the beach who assured us that it was completely normal for them to rest when they got tired.
The baby seal is tired and came up to rest on the beach.
Greg fished and caught a skate. Ugly, right? We did not take the skate home to eat for dinner.
Eww....skate.
Back in Boston, we rode the swan boats in the Boston Garden. I highly recommend this boat ride as it was only $2.75 per person!
Acting like kids on the Swan Boats.
We finished off our visit with some blueberry picking at Honey Pot Hill Orchards. We went in the middle of a warm afternoon so we were the only ones picking except for one other family.
Freshly picked quarts of blueberries.
Carmen and Kathryn also came to visit – they took the pictures so I just need to get copies from them. Overall, this was an excellent summer. I am looking forward to the fall and getting back into my regular routine.
Greg has been eating gluten-free since late March. It hasn’t been too tricky to modify our cooking to leave out gluten and other than not being able to make him sandwiches for lunch, I don’t have any complaints about cooking GF. There are numerous cooking blogs online dedicated to gluten-free recipes.
At first glance, the world of GF baking appears intimidating. Other than purchasing some GF pancake mix and a box of GF Brownie mix where you just need to add water and eggs, I’d only glanced longingly at the variety of rice, tapioca, and potato flour at Whole Foods. Greg wouldn’t describe me as a particularly patient baker. To be fair, neither would I. He has put up with eating several batches of mediocre cookies and other baked goods over the years, so I knew I’d need some time to pick a recipe and the time to follow directions carefully for a tasty end result.
How did we get from the end of March to the end of August with no time to bake? First, it was a busy spring and summer with lots of teaching and playing. Second, since we only have one window unit AC and our oven is a monster, we choose carefully which days in the summer to cook seeing turning the oven on for 30 minutes can dramatically heat up the house.
Variety of GF Products
I really wanted to bake cupcakes but decided to stick with a simpler recipe for my first attempt. I decided to make Alton Brown’s Chewy Gluten Free Cookie from the Food Network website.
Lots of melted butter.
Normally, I would generally substitute applesauce/yogurt for some of the butter/oil but until I learn how that changes the result of GF baking, I decided I should stick to the original recipe. I did have to substitute the final 1/4 cup of brown sugar with white sugar since I didn’t anticipate running out.
Dry ingredients have been sifted with a fork.
I also used my hand-held mixer instead of a mixing bowl. Someday when our kitchen is not Boston-sized, I’ll have enough counter space to own a beautiful Cuisinart Kitchenaid. I chilled the dough as instructed and prepared my baking sheets. The recipe was supposed to make 2 dozen cookies but by the time I finished balling the two baking sheets into 24 cookies, I still have about half of the dough left.
Chewy Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies - half of the batch
Since I was in the mood to be goofy, I used the rest of the leftover dough to make this for Greg. I surprised Greg with the double heart cookie. Unfortunately, less than ten minutes later, our frisky feline hopped up on the kitchen table where the cookie plate was resting and accidently knocked it off to the floor. =( Kitty is in trouble!
GF baking with love!
The verdict was declared to be “pretty tasty for being gluten-free.” Maybe Experiment #2 will be a bit more daring.
Taken after my performance on Robert Willoughby's 90th Birthday Concert, June 5, 2011, New Castle Congregational Church, New Castle, New Hampshire