Right. It is time.
I created this blog page some time ago with every intention of keeping and up to date blog and naturally completely failed to actually be proactive about using and updating it, so this is now long overdue.
This post catches me at a good time! I have just been passed for continuation of the probationary period of my PhD, I just moved flat into a room with far more desk space, which can be used as a better working area, I'm at the European Art-Science-Technology Network Festival of Digital Creativity here at the University of Manchester, and I just got back from an amazing trip to Lithuania to attend the International Composers+ Summer Academy.
Big couple of weeks.
I'm mostly going to talk about Lithuania here though. The International Composers+ Summer Academy lasted from the 15th to the 24th of June in Druskininkai, Lithuania. It's a course set up to foster the creation of new work for accordion, which it achieves by gathering together a group of composers, a group of accordionists, and some other instrumentalists then making them collaborate. Us composers had about a week in which to compose two pieces of music (one for solo accordion and one for accordion and string quartet) and prepare the scores to a publishable standard. The instrumentalists, meanwhile, have to prepare these pieces to a performable standard for a concert and recording at the end of the event. Cue a lot of discussion. Us composers are assigned accordionists to play our pieces. They work with us, discussing what their instruments can and can't do or how we might notate certain techniques, and this gives them a sneak preview of what they can expect when they are met with a complete piece to learn.
The level of collaboration was incredible. The situation any composer longs for is to have time working with a group of instrumentalists who love new music and want new, exciting, and challenging ideas and who manage to engage with the music on the level of the composer. These experiences can be rare. I felt it when working with Distractfold ensemble early this year for my piece Interference and I felt it again at Composers+ but for an entire week. I feel it shows as well. The performance and recording sessions at the end of the week were easily among the best playings of my work I have ever had, with musicians mostly within a few years of my own age. It was truly exciting and I am so happy to call so many talented people my new friends. I worked more intensely than I have ever done before, and there is nothing that I would rather have been doing with my last two weeks.
And I guess with that brings the announcement that my new pieces, Circadian for Solo Accordion and Tide for Accordion with String Quartet will be officially published as part of a full catalogue of new works for Accordion that you can actually buy. This is an exciting first for me as a composer, as previously all scores of my music are self-published. I'll be sure to update here with more details in time! There will also be recordings which will appear in due course. Big thanks go to Rūta Vitkauskaitė, Daniel Nelson, Micołaj Majkusiak, and Martynas Levickis for the opportunity, their input, and some excellent discussions bringing food for thought regarding both music and career. Another special mention of Sinisa Ljubojevic, my solo accordionist who took a graphic score in stride, had patience while I finalised the details of the work and brought my piece to life brilliantly.
Now it's back to the day to day life of the PhD student, narrowing down my research questions, chipping away at larger projects, and, it would seem, attending seminars and other interesting research events! No regrets, and I hope to be back here with some announcements and updates before too long!
Simon