Alexandra Gardner :: composer
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barcelona updates
barcelona update #5
- january 2005
Queridos
Amigos,
First of all, happy 2005! I completely flaked out this year and wrote no holiday cards, so with this message come belated greetings... please know that I have been thinking about you all!
It looks as if this will be my final Barcelona update..*sniff!* In fact, this shouldn't even be called a Barcelona update since I have returned to the US! Yes, it's true. Filled my suitcase with olives and as much jamón as I could smuggle in, and made it back just in time to vote. Not that it did any good. Sigh.
The last 6 months in Barcelona were wonderful. Summer was lovely - not at all the blistering furnace of the year before. In addition to a road trip to Vienna, Austria, and a very respectable number of beach weekends, I traveled down to Andalusia, where I spent time in Cordoba, Seville, and my very favorite of all, Granada! In autumn I packed up my boxes, and put finishing touches on Tourmaline for soprano saxophone and processed sounds, Coyote (a version of the earlier string quartet Coyote Turns) for the group Percussions de Barcelona (PdB), and a new studio recording of New Skin, performed by Barbara Held.
In December, after getting more or less settled here in DC, I returned to BCN to rehearse Coyote, as well as several other percussion pieces, including Ayehli and Spotted Jasper, for a concert of my music presented by PdB as part of a 4-concert festival of percussion music. The concert was a total success. Imagine my surprise when I walked onto the stage to find the auditorium completely full! The performers played beautifully and with incredible energy, and the audience response was powerfully enthusiastic. All I can say is, I love Europe!!!
Happily, I know that my compositions from the past two years and more are being well fed and cared for by the wonderful, dedicated, talented musicians I was fortunate enough to meet. Tourmaline will have its premiere performance by saxophonist Carola Cuypers next month in Latvia, and should you find yourself in Girona next weekend, you can go hear Harry Sparnaay playing Ónice. Check out my web site (www.jigsawmusic.org) for information about future performances here and abroad, new recordings and more!
What now, you ask? Hmm. Well, I have recently begun a new job as a sound engineer at National Public Radio. It is challenging, this live broadcast business, but I am learning a lot, and it is fun to actually meet the voices we hear on the radio every day! Musically speaking, new projects include a piece for piano and live electronics, for pianist Silvia Vidal, as well as another jaunt into the land of bass clarinet, this time paired with organ (!), for the Amsterdam-based Duo Levent.
Muchas gracias for reading these updates, and for all of your wonderful emails and letters. I have enjoyed sharing the experiences of the past 2 years with you!
Que os vaya muy bien el año nuevo! Wishing you all a great year!
barcelona update #5
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