* JUNE 7TH 2017 - PIANO CAVERN
Here are a few photos from my McNay performance with my street choir, From Those Who Follow the Echoes.  Grand new performances planned for the future.  July first in a cavern.  September a full theatrical "choose your own adventure" piece, in a gorgeous 4 story library.  We will definitely be utilizing the entire space!!!  I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

  

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* MAY 31ST 2017 - RIVARD REPORT

I'm thankful and humbled by the eloquent preview by The Rivard Report. We've worked hard and are excited about our concert Performance: From Those Who Follow The Echoes at the McNay Art Museum Thursday at 6:30. We hope you can include us in your early evening tomorrow. [Update: The Rivard Report came to the performance and did a review that you can read HERE]

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MAY 26TH - OUTINSA INTERVIEW 

Marco Aquino of Out In SA buzzed me while I was in Berlin last month and we had a great conversation about the past, present and classical music. He published a snippet of our convo to help promote our June 1st (6:30 pm) concert at McNay Art Museum

* MAY 21st - PAINTING IN PROGRESS

This Saturday I experienced something new in my music career.  I held a rehearsal in a museum during their hours of operation.  The patrons at the McNay were completely unaware this was going to happen and the directors at the McNay Museum expressed their interest in us rehearsing in this capacity in an effort to show our art in the process of it's creation.  I could tell the choir felt the energy and importance of this process and what this particular concert means.  I was happy they too experienced this and it reminded me of why I started this group that is now a family.  It was to bring something fresh in our lives and the community and I'd say after 8 months we are right on track.  

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* WEDNESDAY MAY 17 - MY BIRTHDAY
I'm sure most of you won't forget that my birthday is right around the corner on May 25th! So leading up to my bday it's hectic but I'm loving it. I'm demo'ing my house and building on my new property and I have an amazing huge concert at McNay Museum. My first time to truly choreograph for my choir, From Those Who Follow the Echoes. This will be our follow up performance to Blue Star in which we won a Cammie award for (drum roll please) "Most Aurally Stimulating Exhibit". Below is one of the performances and us rehearsing with our new award...

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* APRIL 10TH 2017 - PIANISSIMO 

So here we are again. After an intense filled week of rehearsals and experimenting in search of the right tuning, the 6-piano concert was finally here. It brought me joy to see this special crowd in Barcelona closing their eyes and getting lost as the piano sounds from all corners enraptured them. I leave hoping everyone found something special from their viewpoint. My body as always gave everything in presenting a work and I'm burnt to a crisp but again filled with great emotion. It's time to relax but my mind is already thinking of new grand ideas. The photos below show the process from meeting with the conductor, to rehearsing, to promoting on the radio, to partaking alone at the dress rehearsal and alas the concert. Thank you Fabricarte and thank you to all that flew in from Texas and Europe to share this experience with me. Until next time...

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* APRIL 2ND 2017 - BARCELONA

My first few days in Barcelona have been great. For the most part I have been adjusting to the time change and hanging with my friend Alfonso. Alfonso is my friend whom I met while on tour in China. We toured together for a month with our bands playing in China and Mongolia and it is he that invited me to premiere my 6-Piano concert in Europe. If you have followed my blog, you may have figured out that I actually don't enjoy traveling without a purpose. A day on the beach and then I'm bored. Of course I'm traveling almost 3-4 months out of the year and I cherish every moment I'm abroad, as I know I'm fortunate. But for the most part I want to grind away on new projects or see the every day life of my friends, and this is a perfect insight full of meeting and connecting with artists.

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* MARCH 26TH 2017 - BARCELONA BOUND
I'm off to Barcelona this week to start rehearsals for a performance of my music for 6 pianos (scroll down to see videos).  It's been an insane month with a choral performance and with SXSW and now I've been hired for a short film and to do sound design on a commercial.  So needless to say I haven't had time to breathe or really post much.  But I'm workin' my tail off to knock everything out so when I get on the plane I can have a glass of scotch and shift my focus to pianos.  If you are in Barcelona or have friends in Barcelona please share this INVITE with them.  Oh and Go Zags!  Been waiting 20 years for this one.  

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* FEBRUARY 21ST 2017 - FROM THOSE WHO FOLLOW THE ECHOES

I apologize for every blog post having a video!  But this one is long overdue.  Finally I was able to edit one of the videos from the premiere of my new choir, From Those Who Follow The Echoes, at Hotel Emma last fall.  With our next performance looming, I wanted to pump this one out.  Come see us on March 2nd at Blue Star Contemporary for the Contemporary Art Month Kick-Off Party in San Antonio.  Click to watch "Fathers & Sons" by yours truly!!!  

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* FEBRUARY 19th 2017 - FIRST ATTEMPT AT CHORAL MUSIC

As I embark on yet another exciting choral adventure with an amazing group of singers in Texas, I'm reminded of the first choral piece I ever wrote.  I was late in discovering the beauty of the voice but when I delved into it, I got hooked.  There is something special about working with any large ensemble and I remember working with the group you will see perform in this video.  Rehearsals were magical in the sense that the rehearsal space was small and intimate, so I was able to get to know more than a handful of the performers.  And that is what I love about music.  How it brings people together for a common purpose of sharing.  I can't believe years later I have my own choir.  There is this special bond we have as if we've gone to battle for each other and now that we are reuniting for another concert, it feels like a family reunion.  I'm excited to see how it evolves and I hope the singers have a similar sentiment.  So for context, the video below was the premiere of the first choral piece I ever wrote titled, Phosphorescent Flame (also on Spotify & iTunes).  If you scroll down to the preview blog post, you will find info on the next performance!

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* FEBRUARY 8TH 2016 - CONTEMPORARY ART MONTH

Exciting news to announce, my new choir, From Those Who Follow The Echoes, is returning for another exciting performance on March 2nd at the Contemporary Art Month (CAM) Kickoff event at Blue Star Contemporary in San Antonio (6 - 9pm). More details coming soon...

A design by Ben Humphreys

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* JANUARY 28TH 2017 - BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART
2017 is off to a great start.  I wrapped up my first concert of the year with my most experimental composition to date.  The concert was at the Blanton Museum of Art which I have been going to since I was a teenager.  The Blanton curates unique and inspiring music in it's gallery, so it's wonderful to partake in the tradition.  For this concert, I was asked to write a new piece to go alongside works I curated for my Keep Composers Weird residency in 2016.  Btw, applications are still being accepted for the 2017 residency, so if you are composer please have a look HERE.  For my piece, I experimented with lights as cues for the players with the goal of exploring music in motion.  I tried various ways of mixing blinking signals and using colored lights for certain cues (as seen here in rehearsals).   Ultimately I ended finding a switch controller where I could manipulate the speed of blinking lights and turn lights on and off.  Each player reacted different to each signal as discussed before the performance.  During the performance the audience actually went inside one of the layers!  I was pleased with the performance as the audience participation meet my expectations of having this be an interactive piece that gave off the feel of an installation.  Performance photos and videos coming soon... 

 
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*  JANUARY 10TH 2017 - FINALLY!...

...the video was posted by Del Mar College for the commissioned work I did in the memory of Eddie Galvan.  This piece was one of my favorite to work on.  I was given 6-8 months but because of an international tour, I procrastinated a bit and crammed it all in a month.  Needless to say, I got very sick after I turned it in.  It has a latin/spanish flavor to it so if you feel like dancin', give it a swirl 

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