Fall Updates
Got myself to Crater Lake at just about the last weekend it was still possible to drive around
Since August, most of my composing life has been consumed by rehearsals, clinics, recordings, and performances more than writing—but as November kicked off, I’ve been able to return to the writing desk to actually finish and start things!
A recent highlight was a generously lengthy article + interview with Oregon ArtsWatch writer Matthew Neil Andrews, which you can read here—it includes some more information about the recent launch of New Wave Opera, a company I co-founded this past year with composer & mezzo Lisa Neher and soprano Lindsey Rae Johnson that focuses on programming music by living composers.
On to the updates!
RECENT RECORDINGS
Erin and Conrad
10 years ago, I met a violist named Conrad Sclar at the Rocky Ridge Summer Music Festival - now he has a successful career as a professor and performer, now with new album out that features a new piece by me! This work, Prometeo, is especially meaningful to me because it features a text in Spanish by my lovely partner—there are some other fantastic works here, all beautifully performed by Conrad Sclar and Erin Hodgson!
Listen to Prometeo here!
My work, Just Another Climb was released on CD by The Merian Ensemble, alongside works by some of my heroes like Jennifer Higdon, Clarice Assad, and Nicole Chamberlain. The work was featured on Performance Today, the ASCAP New Music Friday playlist, and Modern Notebook in the last several months! You can hear and purchase the full album, The Book of Spells, on most streaming services.
Listen to Just Another Climb here!
The fancy cover for the album!
Also, the new album by Resonance Ensemble which features my work Seek What You Want to Find, is just wrapping up the mixing and mastering stage! The piece was a special collaboration with poet S. Renee Mitchell, and I’m so thrilled that this ambitious work for four soloists, string quartet, and mixed choir will be included on this important album of all-new choral works by living composers.
From the recording session for Seek What You Want to Find at Hallowed Halls in Portland.
RECENT PERFORMANCES
I also enjoyed two incredible performances of my operetta, THUMP at the iconic Raven’s Manor Haunted Bar in downtown Portland, thanks to the amazing artists at New Wave Opera (Lisa Neher, Lindsey Rae Johnson, Brandon Michael, and pianist Sequoia). We were able to record the dress rehearsal, which will be up on NWO’s YouTube page later this year!
So, so grateful to the cast of New Wave Opera for such a wonderful revival of this work; and with the giant Raven looking on, it was hard to picture this happening in a better venue!
This fall has also seen an explosion of performances of my new wind ensemble work, BRAWL. Commissioned by the Philadelphia All-City Wind Ensemble (Trish Cornett), the piece has since been scheduled for performance by nearly a dozen groups across the country!
One of the performances, Justin Mertz’s Concert Band at University of Northern Iowa, was graciously recorded and sent to me! Listen to the performance here.
An incredible group to be standing among!
I’ve had some lovely performances this fall, but one that stuck out in particular was the recent revival of my short string quartet, Extracted Wisdom by Fear No Music. The group is doing an entire season of Portland and Oregon-based composers, and their kick-off concert was such a beautiful opportunity to listen to the works of, meet, and connect with other composers in our area. You can read a review from the performance here.
ON THE WRITING DESK
JUST COMPLETED | After nearly a year, PERPETUAL MOTIONS has finally been sent on to the performers! You can read all about this work on a recent post linked here.
If you’re in or near Portland, check them out any Sunday at 10:30am!
NEW COMMISSION ANNOUNCED | Chatter PDX is a new group in Portland, but a sister organization to a long-running ensemble in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They program weekly concerts on Sunday mornings, performed by some of the top musicians in our region. Each program is an hour long, consisting of works programmed by the performers, a live reading of a poem or text by a local writer, a two-minute “celebration of silence,” and - of course - snacks.
The group, led by Oregon Symphony principal clarinetist James Shields, commissioned a new work for clarinet and string quartet that will be premiered by both Chatter PDX and Chatter ABQ in 2025. I couldn’t be more excited!
a few initial sketches for the piece
CURRENTLY ON THE DESK | Right now I’m just starting work on a new bass clarinet solo for my long-time friend Emily Mehigh (one of the premiering duo from Suite-Ass Cycle, for fans of that work!). We are taking inspiration from both heavy metal music and from “wrecks” (ship wrecks, car wrecks, people and places that are “a wreck” - you name it!). I’ve been doing some sketching and listening this week, and hope to have more to share later this month on the piece-in-progress!
OTHER UPCOMING WRITING PROJECTS FOR WINTER 2024-2025
flute + piano piece inspired by Stormlight Archive saga by Brandon Sanderson
percussion and trumpet + electronics piece for a new album
trio for flute, oboe, and piano about Pinellas County (Florida)
clarinet + string quartet work for Chatter PDX & Chatter ABQ
WRAP-UP
My mom visited to hear the opera, so I took her to see the redwoods for her first time!
Thanks for being part of this journey - it’s been a difficult few weeks for many.
I have a feeling that making things together and finding new ways to create space for one another will prove to be more important than ever before. One thing I’ve continued to observe is that there is room enough for all of us to keep making things—there will always be more people who want to listen; it just might take awhile to find them.
Happy wandering!
