Conductor's Notebook
Writings, including academic papers and music criticism, as well as videos, audio, notes, and other content.
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.
In the summer of 2016, I sat down with Jon Lim to discuss the most controversial word in the English language: failure.
ALBUM:
In May of 2015 I lead Symphony Number One in our debut concert in Baltimore. Here's an audio essay I posted ahead of our launch:
We think we can better serve the composers we feature by focusing on just one emerging composer at a time rather than lumping all of them together onto one concert. Even trained musicians can get overwhelmed by a multitude of new compositional voices presented on one concert; how can we expect our audience to do any better? When this happens, your memories start to get flattened and you tend to only remember features like special effects, strange instruments, or other novelties, rather than to deeper musical layers.
