THE BASICS:
I've been writing music since my early teens. At age 51, that means a lot of music composed over nearly 40 years, a good bit of it lost or misplaced, some even thrown away; the vast majority of extant works unrecorded.
Not that I only composed music back in those adolescent times. I also studied conducting with Michael Palmer (then associate conductor with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra), and became a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus (under the direction of Robert Shaw) in 1973 and sang with that group until late 1977.
For more about me, see...
FAIRLY RECENT STUFF:
In July of 2006, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Jere Flint conducting, premiered Music for a Summer Celebration in an outdoor concert at Wolf Creek Park in south Fulton County, a work which they reprised in August 2007 at Piedmont Park.
In November 2007, the GSU Percussion Ensemble premiered Vagabond Drumming, Book III. Yes, III. So called because of its intended location in the entire set, despite being the second "book" to be completed and performed.
Most recently, in March 2008, mezzo-soprano Maya Hoover and pianist Lisa Leong premiered Song of the Chattahoochee, a setting of the poem by Georgia poet (and composer) Sidney Lanier (the guy in the oval picture above).
Also premiered in late January at Eyedrum was Down the Drain one of my rare forays into musique concrète which you can now hear on my MySpace audio player.
NEW STUFF:
New compositions in progress include a work for violist Brett Deubner, and the remaining 3 "books" of Vagabond Drumming for the Georgia State University Percussion Ensemble (Stuart Gerber, director).
Other exciting news is the upcoming European premiere of my Sonata for Violoncello and Piano by cellist Wouter Vercruysse and pianist Alexander Besant on October 16 at De Rode Pomp ("The Red Pump") in Ghent, Belgium. (See my MySpace calendar of upcoming concerts.)
PUBLISHING:
All of my music is published by Lux Nova Press.
I'm an ASCAP writer member; Lux Nova Press is an ASCAP affiliated publisher.
MUSIC JOURNALISM:
In addition to being a composer and conductor, I often function as a writer (of words), most frequently as a music journalist.
I fell backwards into this aspect of my work, first as the editor of Chorus! magazine from 1989 until 1995. My book of interviews, Choral Conversations, was published by Thomas House Publications in March of 1997.
After a hiatus of some years, in late 2002 I became a contributing writer for Creative Loafing, Atlanta. I've also written for other publications such as the American Music Center's online magazine NewMusicBox.
In 2003, I was given an ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award in music journalism for the article Sounds Like Home, about composer Jennifer Higdon. (Oddly enough, it was one of the earliest articles I ever wrote for Creative Loafing.)
Also, I finally caved in and created a personal blog this year: EarRelevant.
COLLABORATIVE WRITING:
I've collaborated as co-author of An introduction to the gu-zheng, with gu-zheng master Angela Jui Lee (now Angela Lee Propst). It appears these four slim volumes are the only beginning method books for that Chinese stringed instrument written in English.
WEIRD STUFF:
The critter above is Victor Capybara, partially inspired by RCA's "His Master's Voice" logo and partially by the capybara known as "Speak" in the cartoon "The Tick." Copyrights and engraving styles necessitated the substitution of the more realistic 19th-century image of a capybara to go with the Victrola. (Good doggie!)
weird alternative controller show at Eyedrum this Wednesday at 9 pm. two, count 'em, two Don Buchla Marimba Luminas in one room. Local composer/musician Klimchak will be opening for Lukas Ligeti.
I'm happy to announce my new cd MOONSTRUCK, a collaboration with Jan Bang, Arve Henriksen, Tilmann Dehnhard, Ulrike Haage, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Alejandro Govea Zappino, Jan Krause, Susanna and the Magical Orchestra a.o. You're welcome to enjoy, bb
Mark, Thank you very much for the close look at our performances and you advice.We appriciate it. I totaly agree with your point of view.We would like to play more interesting,adventursome as you say,music pieces.Although i have to say that the audience we are performing for is not too much musicaly educated,and usually they prefer to listen to the music pieces they can recognize.I think as a contamporary composer you are familiar with this problem.Nevertheless,we will appriciate if you could navigate us to the music(tell us particular composers and compositions)which you think would find new admires through our performance.We would like to develop our quartet in different directions and we would like to keep our possibilities as the artist,not to follow unconditionally audience tastes.May be you have your own music pieces for the string quartet.We will be more then happy to play it! Warmest greetings from Dolce Vita!
Dear Mark: Thanks for the add. I think your cello sonata is beautifully idiomatic. & the percussion pieces sound fun for the ensemble to play. Wonder what you would think of the virtual orchestral and ensemble pieces on my page. - gil.
See you on Thurs. at Unseen Forces 2! Pierre Ruhe said he'd be there.
Atlanta Composers Group
presents
Unseen Forces 2: Electronic Music by Atlanta Composers
featuring the music of:
Mark Gresham Mike Murray Adam Scott Neal Darren Nelsen Jason Passmore Brian Skutle Mitchell Turner Howard Wershil Kerwin Young Thursday, April 17th, 2008 @ 8pm Three Bears Cafe 105 North Park Square Marietta, Georgia 30060 PHONE: (678)290-0017 FAX: (678)290-0019 threebearscafe@bellsouth.net
Merci beaucoup pour l'ajout! Vous avez un univers musical très varié qui me plaît. J'espère un jour vous rencontrer. A quand un projet commun? Salutations musicales d'une flûtiste passionnée, Catherine.
THE BASICS:
