The last week was a busy one! Flights to and from Chicago, the October rendition of the Jazz Trials (an awful lot of SNOW for a Halloween) and the premiere of Aaron Gage’s new work for Steelpan and Wind Ensemble!
I just wanted to take a moment to thank Aaron for composing yet another piece of music for me. This is his third ensemble work that features steelpan and his first for large wind ensemble. It’s so much fun to have composers like Aaron create new pieces for me and to play my part in getting these works out there for the world! I also want to congratulate Aaron on recieving a commission from the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra! He will be composing a piece for their steelband (under the direction of my good friend Scott McConnell) and top string orchestra! The piece will be premiered in the Chicago Fine Arts Building sometime in 2021.
I also want to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to John Sanks and the Albuquerque Concert Band. They were a fantastic group to work with and did a wonderful job with the piece. For those of you in the ABQ/Central New Mexico area, they give at least one concert a month, all year long!
As we come into the last part of 2019, I’m looking forward to more opportunites and performances in 2020. I have recently commissioned Louis Raymond-Kolker to compose a chamber work for steelpan and mixed ensemble that I’m very excited to perform next year!
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— mike
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