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Dissing The Competition

Dissing The Competition

Rather than pay fees to competitions that one is statistically unlikely to win, a composer’s efforts and money will be far better devoted to attending music conferences and new music concerts.

Jane Ira Bloom: Valuing Choices Made in the Moment

Jane Ira Bloom: Valuing Choices Made in the Moment

Jane Ira Bloom clearly maneuvers within a genre while at the same time subverting any attempt at making generalizations about her work. The primary mode of music-making she engages in...

Sonic Cartography II: Questions of Scale

Sonic Cartography II: Questions of Scale

Neil Leonard sought to express something of the wonder he felt, not just experiencing new sounds on site, but also learning the context in which those sounds exist. It led...

THE LATEST FROM NEWMUSICBOX AND AROUND THE WEB

The Magic That Happens in a Week

The Magic That Happens in a Week

Vermont College of Fine Arts plays up the “low residency” aspect of its music composition MFA program. You study remotely with a grad advisor for six months, and then you...

Sonic Cartography

Sonic Cartography

Town butchers singing traditional tavern songs? Cuban street criers advertising their wares with vocal shouts? Sometimes the naïve ear of a traveler, through curiosity or serendipity, can investigate sounds that...

From Hardwired Pragmatist to Nontraditional Undergrad Student

From Hardwired Pragmatist to Nontraditional Undergrad Student

My own hardwired pragmatism steered me away from music and towards psychology. It wasn’t a decision borne of academic ambivalence. I had genuine interest in the field, and a powerful...

Artist Residencies: All Costs Considered

Artist Residencies: All Costs Considered

Perhaps we are early adopters of something that wouldn’t have been possible even a decade ago. Traveling has never been cheaper; it’s possible to work from anywhere in the world;...

Just Intonation as Orchestrator

Just Intonation as Orchestrator

I initially came to Just Intonation from the perspective of contemporary music and from working with composers on particular projects, but I’ve found that JI has crept into almost everything...

Artist residencies for musicians: 5 tips on the application process

Artist residencies for musicians: 5 tips on the application process

Finding affordable housing and a space to do one’s work is a task on the minds of many emerging artists; artist residencies provide a solution, freeing up time and space...

Polyphony and Storytelling: A Conversation with Nate Wooley on Solo Improvisation

Polyphony and Storytelling: A Conversation with Nate Wooley on Solo Improvisation

Nate Wooley’s music and relationship to his instrument has been a huge inspiration to me as a violinist. So I’m very grateful to Nate for taking the time to offer...

Morocco, Iceland, Finland, and Cyprus: To Change and Be Changed

Morocco, Iceland, Finland, and Cyprus: To Change and Be Changed

The Passepartout Duo has embraced the benefits of continual travel for music. While every artist residency is different in its financial burden, its scope, and its circumstance, this week they...

Speak Now: #45miniatures

Speak Now: #45miniatures

To me, the result of the election was an “unpresidented” [sic] embarrassment on a global level. I found myself wondering what I could do, as a performer. I posted on...

A Holistic Approach to Sound

A Holistic Approach to Sound

An extended technique is any action that produces a result outside the fundamental parameters of sound that an instrument was designed to make. But as useful as I’ve found this...

Passepartout Duo: Music on the Move

Passepartout Duo: Music on the Move

At this point, the Passepartout Duo has completely given up location-dependent life. Their home moves from month to month, and this has profoundly changed their musical practice.

TODAY'S COMPOSER BIRTHDAY

Christopher M. Wicks

Born: Friday, September 19, 1975 Silverton, Oregon

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