…by the people at MEGABUS (or however you spell it…I like the all-caps, emphasizing the MEGA aspect of MEGABUS).  I was editing my score for TWEAK for a while, but I can’t seem to focus on it without getting carsick.  Don’t ask me how I can type and watch “Up” on Netflix, but I can!

So, in line for said MEGABUS, I was behind what appear to be two vocal students at NYU.  I say this because A) they were talking about singing, and B) they were clad in tight pants, those ridiculous hipster shoes that kind of look like ankle boots except for the fact that they lace up, and both were wearing bandanas as neckerchiefs.  I looked at them and was reminded about how my friend Imani talked about what NYU students looked like, and voila!  I could be wrong, though.  They very well may be Columbia students; they dress about the same.

Getting further towards the point: one of these hipsters had an old-model camera on her, and was proudly displaying it to the other.

I often wonder about whether hipsters can hurt or harm classical music.  I was in New York the other day with the Stony Brook Contemporary Players, working sound for their annual Premieres concert, and outside Merkin Hall was a poster for the Kaufman Center’s New Sounds Live series.  The poster is clearly meant to attract the downtown crowd, with some cool photos of very cool acts (including So Percussion, who I love!), as well as a giant laughing guy with a beard, glasses, and a Where’s Waldo-esque hat.

I think that classical music’s aim at capturing new audiences is absolutely admirable and absolutely necessary.  I just wonder whether or not hipsters should be who we aim for.  Are these people capable of liking classical music other than as a fetish item?  Is what I do no better than the old camera that belongs to the hipster now sitting next to me very obviously going over French vocabulary?

Even more so, is there a correct way for people to appreciate classical music, or should we leave how we’re received entirely up to the audience?

Granted, if you ask me tomorrow, I’ll tell you that classical music’s future resides in Williamsburg with all of the aging 30-something hipsters looking to find something “appropriately artsy” to go with their baby strollers and organic food.

I don’t want my music to be a fetish item or a fad.  Do you think that this audience can be counted on to allow classical music to endure?

…that it’s gonna be a good year for me this year!

I woke up the other day and realized that I’m doing pretty well for myself, professionally speaking.  I just updated my calendar to reflect Carrie Koffman’s performance of Say Nothing, as well as put in the tentative information about the premiere of TWEAK that’s coming up in April with David Vickerman and the Johns Hopkins University Wind Ensemble.  On top of all of that, Lydia Van Dreel has told me that she may be able to perform my Horn Trio at the International Horn Society Symposium (to quote Lydia: “Big big big!”) in San Francisco come June (on top of her premiering it in April at The University of Oregon)!

I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

…Saxophone Studio will be performing my piece for fourteen (that’s right, fourteen!) saxophones, Say Nothing, at the North American Saxophone Alliance regional conference in West Point, NY on March 18 – 19.  Carrie Koffman, the saxophone professor at The Hartt School and the commissioner of the piece, will be performing it for a third time.  Repeat performances give you a great feeling; it’s nice to know that a piece resonates with people enough to survive past its premiere!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the piece, it’s a hell of a ride!  It’s a mix of classical music, film noir references, swearing…there’s even a cut-up love letter from summer camp!  Check out the premiere recording:

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Carrie has asked that I trim down the performing forces from fourteen to twelve, which is probably the best move in this situation.  I originally wanted twelve, anyway.  It’s funny how stuff like that works out!