As creators, we aspire to reflect inclusion and acceptance toward all people, to cultivate awareness of our role as stewards on this planet, and recognize the power of music to do that. Now is a vital time to inspire a change of hearts and minds through music.

Jenny, Vanessa, and Tiffany graciously agreed to spend some time answering questions about Three Penny Records, reflecting on the process of creating a record label, and talking about their larger goals.

Can you each tell me a little bit about yourselves? 

Vanessa : I live in Snohomish, WA, just north of Seattle. When asked what I do I always laugh a little, because I bounce through so many different roles. At any given moment I am a teacher, director, playwright, vocalist, dancer, painter, graphic artist, percussionist, actress, or pianist. Currently, I teach visual arts at a local high school. Is that what I do? Sometimes! My musical background includes teaching private music lessons for twenty years, directing three musicals, writing and producing three albums, and performing as a vocalist/guitarist/pianist in multiple projects. At VCFA, my focus was more on the musical theater side of things. However, while I was there I also presented a choral piece centered around my son’s bipolar episodes, created an eight-minute vocal rant curated by the devil and several wind instruments, wrote a wind overture for the musical “The Bridge” and collaborated on multiple rock, folk, spoken word and street songs for the singer-songwriter nights.

Jenny: A Seattle native, my love of music began early—at 9, I was performing in a traveling children’s choir. In high school, I sang in bands and studied with renowned vocal instructor Maestro David Kyle. My undergraduate was at Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle) in Jazz studies. The music business has provided many roles for me: international performer, composer, recording artist, band leader, booking agent, vocal coach and producer. After parenting and operating/owning a successful airplane business, I eventually lived my dream of dedicating two full years to music composition, earning my MFA in 2018 at VCFA. The freedom of jazz with the celebration of authentic expression drew me in as a composer. Taking my ideas onto the bandstand, I began to hire horn sections to play my arrangements and original material. This led to my collaboration with VCFA colleagues and the release of my latest album of original music, inspired by my human rights activism. The album, Rearranged, is our first release at Three Penny Records. It’s amazing to see our label on the charts with Blue Note and other established labels!

Tiffany: I’ve lived in Vermont for the last twelve years, in rural small towns and for the last two, in Burlington with my now husband. I moved here from Brooklyn, NY, so I was more in need of dirt roads and moose sightings than “city” bustle, though I love being in Burlington and the arts scene here. I run a private music studio where I teach voice, piano and composition, and spent many years playing gigs with my band and solo all over Vermont, as well as back in NYC. A double-booking led to me sitting in with a local jazz band in early 2010, and since then I’ve also been performing and collaborating as a jazz vocalist, both domestically and internationally. I’ve released two albums, an original EP recorded back in Brooklyn, and an EP of jazz standards. I’m originally from the Midwest, studied voice and magazine journalism at Drake University, and moved to San Francisco out of college, where I was editorial director of an underground arts culture magazine. At VCFA, I focused on writing for various instrumentations to go along with my songwriting persona, and learned to trust that the many parts I hear in my head are worth writing down! I’m currently working on arranging those songs for performance and recording as soon as that’s possible.

I assume the name, Three Penny Records, is inspired by our beloved Three Penny Taproom, a favorite gathering place in Montpelier, VT for the Music Composition program.  

When we first discussed a name, we were trying to find something that represented the three of us as women musicians and composers who strive to push boundaries, both in our music and in the world. Of course, VCFA is what connected us, so something that represented that time in our lives made sense. Three Penny came up, because of the memories at the taproom, because of the three—and then we looked into the history of the Threepenny Opera as capitalist critique, as well as the threepence coin of the UK, this formerly low-value, but now sought after artifact, with the faces of women leaders (Queens Elizabeth I, Victoria, Anne and Elizabeth II) on the front—and the name really seemed to fit from several different angles.

How did you decide to create your own record label? 

It was on the afternoon we came back to Tiffany’s house in Burlington after the Music Composition Alumnx Residency ended in August 2019. We were all exhausted and inspired, as is usual after residency, and Vanessa and Jenny had some time before they needed to catch their red-eye flight back to Seattle. Jenny was talking about her upcoming album and we were discussing everything we’d learned from Frank Oteri and Trudy Chan at the residency as far as the business end of album promotion, and just how much there is to do. Then we all kind of thought aloud, what if we had help? We’ve all put out albums on our own before and know how overwhelming it can be, and how easy it is to miss important elements. We talked about how the record industry continues to change, and how individual artists are empowered to do it all themselves, but that it’s just too much. All of us teach and wear multiple hats as working musicians, and we realized an opportunity was there to come together and create something to help each other, as well as other like-minded musician/composers, to get the support and exposure we need to thrive.

Your website describes Three Penny Records as “Womxn Curated Music for the Future.” And you have a mission of fostering “support, accessibility and advocacy for independent creatives through a cooperative record label.” What need(s) does Three Penny Records fulfill that you aren’t seeing addressed elsewhere in the industry?

First of all, as “womxn” curated, we mean that we are cisgender, LGBTQ/BIPOC allies and feminist women who use womxn to distinguish ourselves from a patriarchal capitalist system, and that we strive to support music that pushes that system to change. We consider this the “music of the future”, because although the world is changing now, it has much further to go to create gender, racial, economic, and environmental equality among all beings. This is what drives us to make music, and we feel like our mission, along with our cooperative model, distinguishes us from most other record labels out there. Rather than operate as an exclusive club, we hope to inspire others to push for social and environmental justice through their music, so that as artists we are not perpetuating a system that ultimately holds us back. This mission is the driving force behind the musicians we choose to invite into our cooperative, and because of that, all genres are equally relevant. The continuity is the drive to create fundamental societal change.

You are all composers and singers, but with very distinct creative voices. Can you talk about the commonalities among the three of you—musically or otherwise—your shared values, and what it is that connects you and drives this successful partnership?

Ever since Vanessa and Tiffany were paired as roommates their first residency, that connection was instant, and soon enough the uncanny commonalities between Vanessa and Jenny became apparent as well. The three of us spent a lot of time together, or in various pairings amidst each other, and what surfaced was an ease of communication and a relatable appreciation of the spiritual realm. We all believe in the power of coincidence, of being present in the moment, and this knowing makes for easy translation of our thoughts and intuitions to each other. Although we don’t all write in the same style, we each have an urge to be progressive in the world and to create music that reflects that urgency. We also have a deep trust and investment in each other’s success, and our past trials and tribulations go into a shared pool of knowledge that we can all draw from. Our diversity of experience just adds to this well we can access both separately and together.

You began creating Three Penny Records before COVID-19, with two of you located in the Pacific Northwest and one in Vermont. How does distance affect your collaboration?

We were already meeting regularly on Skype and Zoom, so it’s really been the same since COVID. It’s been invaluable to have our meetings and each other as we’ve gone through the various stages of quarantine and as we’ve all been adapting to teaching and maintaining our musical presence online. The distance is great really, because we have a connection to both the West and East Coasts—we bracket the U.S. and can keep a broader perspective. When travel becomes easier we will definitely have in person meetings and events both in Seattle and Burlington.

Do you have plans to expand your label to include more artists? 

Absolutely, but we are not in a rush. Right now we are promoting Jenny’s jazz album Rearranged, and Phoenix by Sugar Addikt, Vanessa’s EDM project with her son Bowman. We are writing bylaws and ironing out the legalities of becoming a business and a cooperative. Tiffany hopes to record in the semi-near future, so that may be our third release, but whatever organically comes up and feels right we will definitely consider.

Any news you’d like to share? 

We’re pretty excited about the charting success of Jenny’s album, Rearranged. Three Penny has been listed alongside labels like Blue Note and Mack Avenue, so that’s a fantastic way to start off. And Phoenix, mastered by VCFA’s own Ravi Krishnaswami, has just been released in the past couple of weeks, so we’re looking forward to seeing where that will go. Find us on social media to keep tabs on our releases and upcoming events—we can’t wait to continue to share with the VCFA community and beyond.

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Sarah, Ethan, and Aaron recently sat down via Zoom to answer a few questions about the project. While most of the answers are in Sarah’s voice, much like the album, this interview is a collaborative effort.

Can you each tell me a little bit about yourselves?

Sarah: I live in Norwalk, CT, parent my three kiddos and teach and perform. I came to VCFA very much a jazz person, and did absolutely no jazz while I was there, so this is a nice return for me.

Ethan: I came up mainly as a jazz bassist and still play that part a fair bit, and I’m also a composer of concert music as well as a songwriter and arranger. I’m from DC, where I still live.

Aaron: I’m currently based in Pittsburgh where I write, perform, and teach music. I also work part-time at the public library. I have a really varied musical background, but jazz is my first love, even though my graduate work was focused on contemporary concert music.

You all crossed paths at VCFA, but you weren’t all enrolled at the same time. How did you meet and get to know each other?

Ethan and I (Sarah) met in workshops and over meals, and had those wonderful conversations that we all have at VCFA. We ended up playing together at the Songwriting Showcase, on my songs, and together on other people’s songs, so we had a sense of each other as people and as players. And Aaron and I met because, as he says, he never left VCFA, and liked each other for no reason. What I didn’t know was that Aaron had actually talked to Ethan before he enrolled, to answer questions about the program, which is something that I’ve done for prospective students, too.

What was it that connected you all musically?

We all love jazz, and we all have sort of a Parisian a sense of detachment and ennui

In seriousness, I think we each really embody our personalities through our playing and our music, and I think our personalities mesh well together – you can hear it in our conversations, as well as in the music we make together. I brought in a friend, Andy Chatfield, whom I had played with in many different situations, and he was just perfect for the situation – he tied the room together.

How and why did you decide to work on a jazz album together? Sarah had alluded to a conversation last summer that sparked this project. Can you elaborate on that origin story?

I had actually reached out to Aaron before then, because he was posting these lovely videos of himself playing standards on facebook and instagram, and I was just like, oh man, I need to play with this guy. At the bonfire at the end of residency, there was sort of a fanciful discussion of hypothetical projects that dovetailed with a discussion of ennui and the apocalypse, and I just decided to aggressively pursue making it a reality. I was completely delighted that Aaron and Ethan were so down to do it.

How did the album come together in terms of selecting and collaborating on the pieces?

The album is 8 standards, and one original that I wrote. The way we approached it was to lean into the sort of dystopian underpinnings of many of the titles of great American songbook standards, like “Why Was I Born” – they have a lot of darkness to them that people don’t usually express emotionally when they play them, and it seemed appropriate to our discussions of the apocalypse.

Funnily enough, I was actually just thinking about this project and wondering when I’d be able to hear it. The name of the album stuck with me when I first heard it but takes on greater meaning now. What made you decide to release it now?

We had planned to wait to release it on vinyl, but now just seemed like the moment for it, for a number of reasons. When we were recording in the studio, I told a story about how at different times in my life, the fact that there was jazz on the radio felt like a lifeline for me. When we were recording, I really had a sense of collective beauty that we were expressing, that reminded me of that. All the music and art that people are putting into the world right now, it’s just reaching out and lifting people up, and bringing people together to listen and create.

How are you all doing now? How is social distancing affecting your lives, professionally as well as personally? How are you continuing to make music and connect with your community of musicians and composers?

Sarah: I’m collaborating a lot, just accepting all these outstretched invitations to make music. I’m teaching remotely and helping my kids with their own remote learning, which is a juggling act, but we’re very fortunate to be in that position. I know each of us has lost defined performances.

Ethan: My thesis composition for VCFA has thus far been every bit the herculean task I expected, but it’s also been a constant while so much else is in flux, and I’m grateful to be working on it.

Aaron: I’m going full introvert and plowing through all the unread books on my shelf.

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Vanessa Littrell (’19) was one of the participants. In the guest post below, she reflects on the opportunity to reconnect with her community of fellow composers.

Like Minds

In the final semester of the MFA in Music Composition at Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA), there were many conversations about collaboration. As we planned for graduation, and strategized for the “afterlife” or post graduation, promises were made and contact information exchanged. And then real life set in, sending us towards the ever present pull of family, work, and other interests. The glow of creating art threatening to dim itself as unattended tasks or forgotten naysayers reappeared in our foreground. I won’t dare to speak for everyone, but there are many reasons art takes a back seat once the MFA is in hand.

But the greater influence, the greater gift, is this sense of being a tribe. I call it the grand puppy pile of artists.

And yet, just as the tides of indifference, apathy, or lack of time and space were threatening to suffocate, there was a text, or a post, or a real live phone call bringing the magic of VCFA back into focus. This is the true collaboration. Yes, we can make awesome songs together, and sometimes we do. But the greater influence, the greater gift, is this sense of being a tribe. I call it the grand puppy pile of artists. What we have in common is a need to create art. And sometimes just the mere mention of our times at VCFA is enough to reenergize that creative force. That is what brought me to the alumnx event this past August. Setting the intention to reconnect, to have real conversations about the business side of art, and to commune with like minds.

…the unquantifiable experience of saying “yes” to art and “yes” to supporting each other.

I could regail you with the minutia of what we did in our sessions. We sculpted our artist statements, created new elevator speeches, looked at our websites through different lenses, and helped each other find our greatest strengths as artists. This alone was worth the trip back to VCFA. And then there were side conversations with professors. These moved beyond the stress of trying to meet performance deadlines and into the juicier know-how of applying art to life. Reconnecting with our mentors allowed whole new exchanges about searching, connecting, collaborating, pulling it all together. Over soup, on the way to a lecture, I had many invaluable conversations about creating space for art and continuing a network of support. These talks were the most valuable asset to this event; the unquantifiable experience of saying “yes” to art and “yes” to supporting each other.

Following through on promises to stay in touch, I have had multiple conversations and accountability sessions with other alumnx since the event. Jenny Davis (’18), Tiffany Pfeiffer (’19), and I have been strategizing how to support each other as female recording artists. We meet every five weeks and are working on a business plan. Jan McBride (’19) and I meet monthly to recap our work or general “arty” thoughts. This is essential as we reinvent ourselves in the professional realm. Carl LaMark (’19) and I connect to discuss what we are doing, and where it goes next. We share our perspectives on musical theater, what works, what doesn’t. Nick Creed (’19) has come to my studio several times to help with vocal arranging and assist with male vocals on my demo projects. With his assistance, we reworked one of the duets from my musical into a beautifully emotional piece.

All of these interactions help my work stay fresh and invigorated. It is these collaborations born of the VCFA alumnx that I hold dear. These are the fruits of my alumnx connections. These are the rewards of spending time with like minds.

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Max Johnson (’16) selected as a Roulette commissioned artist for 2019-2020

“Creating complex worlds of sound, bassist and composer Max Johnson challenges his listeners to engage deeply and be rewarded with a complete musical experience that is always jubilantly crafted with love, care, and clarity.” Roulette operates a Commissioning Program that accelerates the careers of talented musical creators, giving them the financial and technical resources to create signature work.

Aaron Wyanski (’15) and Jonathan Bailey Holland, faculty, share the stage

Alumnx Aaron Wyanski and faculty member Jonathan Bailey Holland both had works featured on Juventas New Music Ensemble‘s 15th anniversary concert in Boston on September 15. That performance was repeated in Montpelier, VT on October 6.

TURNmusic 2019 Collegiate Composition Prize awarded to Megan DiGeorgio (’20)

Megan DiGeorgio has won TURNmusic‘s 2019 Collegiate Composition Prize for her string quartet Partial Pressures. Following its February 2019 premiere at VCFA, Partial Pressures was performed twice in September, at the 2019 New Music DC Conference in Washington, D.C., and in Burlington, VT.

Reverand T.J. McGlinchey (’19) releases new video

Reverend T.J. McGlinchey released a video for his single “Still In Love.” Download the full album here. Or watch the video here.best shoes | Air Jordan Release Dates 2020

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All five of Kyle’s winning pieces were influenced in some important way by VCFA. One was born out of an assignment and a challenge by faculty advisor John Fitz Rogers; one was workshopped in the on-campus Choral Workshop; three were critiqued in masterclasses that take place during residency; and one formed the basis of several discussions with faculty advisor Jonathan Bailey Holland. In addition to one other centerpiece work with John Fitz Rogers, these five compositions were Kyle’s first pieces to be accepted for publication by a major publisher.

“The whole journey of these pieces, and my time/experience at VCFA in general, is a perfect example of how VCFA can prepare, develop, improve, and help launch a career. All this and I’m not even two full years removed from graduation!”

Below, Kyle reflects on each of his compositions and the ways they were developed, revised, and improved with feedback from both students and faculty members in the MFA in Music Composition:

Can We Sing the Darkness to Light

One of John Fitz Rogers‘ initial challenges to me after hearing some of my work was to be more intentional in getting the music out of root position. This whole piece began as a noodle out of root position, and throughout this piece I looked for ways to keep either the vocal parts or piano accompaniment in some sort of inversion. This allowed a return to root position to feel that much more impactful.

John suggested I look for a way to get the middle section into a different key, so that a return to the original key at the climax of the piece would be more dramatic. This modulation into the middle section proved additionally helpful in setting the melody more comfortably in the tenor range.

John also suggested I strip back some of the piano accompaniment in sections, wanting to be sure it didn’t become “the feature” and overshadow the singing and text. My tendency (in general) is to write an overly involved piano accompaniment, so this continual “push back” from John and others throughout my time at VCFA has been particularly helpful.

John and I talked a lot about the final couple of measures. Does it make sense to end it in tonic? What sort of “resolution” is needed? Or not needed? Are you asking a question, or making a statement? This conversation was helpful as I navigated how to close the piece.

Stars and Psallite

Both of these pieces were played and critiqued in masterclass and formed the basis of several discussions with Jonathan Bailey Holland. The comment that most stuck with me from Jonathan was a metaphor of color. He asked me what color I thought was evoked throughout the piece Stars….is it a purple piece? Light blue? Gray? And then he asked whether I wanted there to be only one color throughout, or whether the piece would be stronger by adding or mixing in another color. In the end, I decided to keep the color consistent, wanting the “purple” nature of the piece to wash over the listener and establish a consistent tone/color from start to finish. I think that helps strengthen this particular piece. However, I continue to think of that feedback from Jonathan in other pieces I write–and there have been several occasions when I realize that bringing in some other colors (or switching colors altogether) is exactly what that particular piece needs at that time to keep things fresh and interesting.

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

This piece was workshopped in the Choral Workshop. I collaborated with fellow VCFA-er Christian Dancy to write the electric guitar part. In workshop, the piece was very much in early draft form, and I was able to get a sense of how some of the tensions throughout would sound and how “sight readable” the piece might be.

The most helpful feedback in this process was from the students themselves, who suggested things like: “You clearly wanted to keep building energy, but as a tenor that part was simply too low to generate much energy or volume.” As a result of that particular comment, I re-wrote those measures so that they sat more comfortably in the tenor wheelhouse.

Another person said, “You have this really nice tension (interval of a 2nd) at the ends of phrases…but I think it happens a couple times too often. I think it would stay fresher if you only introduced that tension a few times throughout the piece for maximum impact.” It was a brilliant suggestion, and following that insight resulted in a more interesting, more impactful piece.

In the Beginning

This piece was also critiqued in a masterclass. One of the suggestions from Jonathan Bailey Holland and Mike Early was to make the clarinet more central to the piece; in the masterclass draft the clarinet was mostly “in the gaps”…and they suggested integrating it more fully into the piece so it didn’t read as an “afterthought.” In the final version, I did exactly that–and I think the piece is much stronger with a more cohesive and integral clarinet part. In some respects, I think, the clarinet “makes” the piece.

Finally, John Fitz Rogers used to talk about a homunculus (a term I had never heard before but now think about constantly) sitting on his shoulder as he composes and asking certain questions of the music. I think about this image often (not in a horror-movie sort of way)–a little homunculus that combines the vast and varied wisdom and perspective of each of the VCFA faculty sitting on my shoulder and asking questions and providing insight as I compose at the piano. What a gift that has been!

Kyle Pederson is equally at home as a pianist, educator, lyricist, and composer. 

His first album, Renewal, a collection of acoustic arrangements of traditional hymns arranged for piano, violin, cello, guitar, oboe and percussion, was chosen as one of the top albums of the year by Mainly Piano in 2010.  12.25, an album of piano solo arrangements of Christmas carols/hymns, was released in 2012 and listed as high as #4 in ZMR national radio airplay monthly charts.  Tracks from both projects continue to have life on radio and internet stations worldwide, and both albums are available for download on iTunes. 

In 2014, Kyle dove headlong into his life-long passion for choral music and has received awards from such choral ensembles as Cerddorion (NY), Little Singers of Armenia, and the International Lutheran Youth Choir.  Commissions have included the TAISM international high school choral festival, AMIS international high school and middle school honor choirs, MN All-State SA choir, Choral Arts Initiative, and a variety of school, church, and community choruses. Commercial recordings of Kyle’s works include New Choral Voices Volume II and III, released by Ablaze Records, featuring emerging composers in the choral field, and KC VITAs Chamber Choir.

Pederson earned his MFA in music composition from Vermont College of Fine Arts, an MA in Education from University of St Thomas (MN), and his BA from Augustana University (SD).  In additional to a variety of freelance projects, Kyle works part time in the music ministry at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN, where he composes and arranges music for a variety of services. Most of Kyle’s works are self-published, with select pieces published by Walton, Santa Barbara, Carl Fischer, Galaxy, and MusicSpoke.

You can hear compositions from Kyle’s winning portfolio on Soundcloud and learn more about Kyle and his work at kylepederson.com.

The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit national competitions in the performing arts providing cash awards, professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition for the best compositions and performances by ensembles and individuals each year in the United States at the professional, college/university, church, community and secondary school levels.

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When Megan was first presented with the idea of writing a piece based on the Kavanaugh hearings, her immediate response was to portray the strength and grace of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Dr. Blasey Ford’s bravery in testifying in front of the entire nation about the most traumatic experience of her life for the good of others was the inspiration for Megan’s piece, “I’m Terrified.”

The title, “I’m Terrified,” comes from something Dr. Blasey Ford said in the hearing: “I am here today not because I want to be. I’m terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school.”

The text of the piece, which will be spoken and sung by solo soprano, will come directly from the hearing and will be comprised exclusively of Dr. Blasey Ford’s words, not Brett Kavanaugh’s or any other committee members’.  The soprano will be accompanied by string quartet, flute, and clarinet.

In her proposal to Fear No Music, Megan wrote: “Despite her anxiety and fear, and despite every negative repercussion she consequently endured, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford believed in what she did and came to do it anyway. Regardless of the outcome of the hearing, the importance of speaking her truth outweighed the heartbreaking, damaging negativity. She showed up. She spoke out. She said, ‘I am here.’”

HEARINGS will take place on September 23, 2019 in Portland, OR and will feature six new works, including Megan’s.

Megan DiGeorgio is a violist, composer, and educator based in the Washington, D.C. area. As a violist, she has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, several Smithsonian Museums, and for Pope Francis during his 2015 United States visit. She has participated in the National Orchestral Institute and Festival, National Music Festival, the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute, and has been heard on the NAXOS

American Classics label in the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic. As a composer, her music was most recently heard at the New Music DC Conference at Georgetown University, and by the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra. She maintains a full studio of viola and violin students at the International School of Music in Bethesda, Maryland. She also freelances as a violist and composer, and sings professionally in the Schola Cantorum at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. In addition, she is a part of the Boulanger Initiative team, which is a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to promoting the music of women, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming composers. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Catholic University and a Master of Music from University of Delaware, both in viola performance.

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Hub New Music

Michael Avitabile, flute

David Dziardziel, clarinet

Alyssa Wang, violin

Jesse Christeson, cello

Hub New Music is  “one of the most talked about younger contemporary classical ensembles” (Oregon ArtsWatch). With its unique instrumentation of flute, clarinet, violin, and cello, the ensemble of “intrepids” (WQXR, New York) has been praised for performances of adventurous repertoire that are “gobsmacking and perfectly played” (Cleveland Classical), with the Boston Globe encouraging audiences, “next time the group offers a concert, go, listen, and be changed.”

Kylwyria

Erica Dicker, vioin

Julia Den Boer, piano

John Gattis, horn

Comprised of three forward-thinking musicians, Kylwyria actively pursues collaborations with living composers and illuminates work written since Gyorgy Ligeti’s seminal Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano (1982). Taking their namesake from a make-believe country Ligeti invented and “maintained” throughout his childhood, Kylwyria seeks to expand the repertoire for Horn Trio by representing the dynamic voices of today’s composers and musical innovators.

Anna’s Ghost

Mary Rowell, violin

Taylor Levine, guitar

Red Weirenga, piano and keyboards

Gregg August, bass

River Guerguerian, drum set

Equally at home performing new contemporary and experimental works, playing to picture, improvising on jazz pieces, backing songwriters, and more, Anna’s Ghost plays and performs at most MFA in Music Composition residencies and features an ever-changing roster of multi-talented instrumentalists. This adaptive group reforms itself in different configurations each semester, welcoming back VCFA veteran musicians and introducing exciting new players to the program. Musicians at the top of their field lend their individual artistry to create a cohesive sound.

The ensemble’s name, Anna’s Ghost, refers to the legend of Anna, the resident ghost of Vermont College of Fine Arts, whose story you can read about here.Asics shoes | Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Translucent – Women Shoes – 165609C

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So why DID I go back to school to get a grad degree at the age of 58? There are two reasons that came to mind readily and one more reason which has become the overriding reason. The first reason for me was simple… I was intrigued. I am primarily self-taught as a musician (aside from a 6 month stay at the Armed Forces School of Music). Do I actually know enough to get into a program like this? I had my doubts. The second reason was akin to the first – where do I fit into the musical food chain? I have been a big fish in a series of small ponds my entire life. What would happen when I got into a bigger pond? Can I hang with the cats in Vermont? I have been a musician ever since I can remember, and self-employed as a full-time musician since 2002. What would happen when I got to VCFA?

So glad you asked.

In short, I found out that I could indeed hang with those wunderkinds up there in Vermont. Not surprisingly, I wasn’t even CLOSE to being the big dog on the porch, but at least I was on the porch. That was enough. What WAS surprising was that I didn’t really learn anything new MUSICALLY  – if you are simply talking about notes, music theory, and the like. What DID happen was that I was introduced to the fine art of discovery in music. I discovered my “process” (being able to turn on inspiration – or get my muse to come out and play). I discovered that the music I write is worth defending (thank you Diane Moser and Roger Zahab) and that it wasn’t a sin to believe in myself and the music I write. I re-discovered that music is the art of self-expression, not a contest between musicians. I am not a Margie or a Garrett (two of my youngish new and wonderful VCFA friends – both incredibly talented and beautiful human beings)… but then again – they ain’t me. I discovered that I REALLY loved choral music – especially that from the late Medieval or early Renaissance. Who cares that nobody is writing that way anymore – I embraced my new obsession and it found its way into each of my VCFA-related compositions. Finally, I can say I discovered a renewed passion for music that has since surprised me with its intensity. Every day I wake up and look for a moment or two when I can write something musical. Every day… For the last 2 1/2 years since graduating… I have several projects in the wings right now that I cannot wait to get started on. This last year has seen me write the music for two dance school programs, a short film, along with the odd string quartet or two, and an experiment with writing hymns.

So now we come to the over-riding reason for my attending VCFA at what is probably the waning years of my musical career. It’s a simple reason. Perhaps it is the most profound reason. I love music. I love all things music. After 50+ years as a musician, I…love…music. And in the end, that is still what drives me. I love nothing more than to sit down in front of a blank piece of score paper, and ask that piece of paper… “I wonder what’s going to happen NOW?”

Being immersed in an environment where everyone around you gets you – where everyone around you loves music at LEAST as much as you do – that is an experience worth chasing down.

So there you have it. VCFA. Me. Why.

Someone asked me since I graduated “Do you regret not doing this sooner?” I thought briefly and responded “Nope. VCFA came at just the right time. It’s the perfect capstone for my career in music.” You see, being an elder citizen had prepared me for the diversity I found in this school. Having a half-century of music experience under my belt prior to VCFA gave me a musical context that allowed me to truly enjoy my stay there.

I am under no illusion that I will be the next Mozart or Bach. I don’t believe that I will be “discovered” and become the next great thing in scoring movies. But what will I be? A lover of all things music. I will write music – I will play music – I will sing music right up until the time God takes me home. It’s good to be me.latest Nike release | First Look: Nike PG 5 PlayStation 5 White Pink Black BQ6472-500 Release Date – SBD

The post So…. Why DID you do it? Or… aren’t you a little old for this? Guest Post by Paige Garwood, ’16 appeared first on Everything is Music.

David Alm’s (’17) woodwind quintet Oceano was featured in Ecstatic Beasts, a VCFA exhibition that considers our complicated relationship to animals and, consequently, the natural world. Animals are regarded a multiplicity of functions in contemporary human society and culture, serving as pets, food, clothing, medicine, surrogates, life-savers and proxies—to name a few. Their role is hotly contested, as what it means to support animal stewardship and still acknowledge our collective dependence upon them is a murky, and often political, ground. And then the question: which animal? We revere some, loathe others, and barely even think of many.

Oceano is a celebration of the birds living in and around the tiny California beach town of Oceano. The musical material mimics and emulates the many natural world sounds emanating from the habitats of six particular shore bird species. Beyond providing a means to further explore a woodwind quintet’s capacity for sonic beauty, the inclusion of such tunes are intended to demonstrate a kind of mythical/real interaction between the human beings and avians inhabiting Oceano.

Oceano was premiered by The City of Tomorrow (Elise Blatchford, flutes; Stuart Breczinski, oboe and English horn; Rane Moore, clarinets; Nanci Belmont, bassoon; Leander Star, French horn) on February 10, 2017 at VCFA. Listen to the performance here.

David is a high school choir director in San Luis Obispo and works as an instructional assistant/piano accompanist at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California. He received his BA in piano performance/composition at UC Berkeley where he studied with the pianists, Charles Fuery and Janet Guggenheim (Itzhak Perlman’s longtime accompanist) and the distinguished composers, Richard Felciano and Jorge Liderman. He graduated from the MFA in Music Composition in February 2017, having studied with Roger Zahab, Michael Early, Andy Jaffe, and John Mallia.Nike footwear | Autres

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In an article for NewMusicBox, alum Garrett Steele (’16) describes his first visit to VCFA, what made him enroll in the MFA in Music Composition, and why he keeps returning to our immersive week-long multi-genre music composition residencies every semester even though he graduated more than two years ago.

Garrett writes: “VCFA is a swirling vortex of bizarre, beautiful convergences, built on the idea that it’s all music. Maybe, in the end, everything is.”

Read the article HERE.

Michael Garrett Steele is your friend. He writes concert works, including the video-game inspired saxophone quartet “Water Stage,” and “Pedal Tone Study for Voice and Electric Toothbrush in C.” His scoring work includes the Boston-based webseries Allston Xmas, rescores of classic Winsor McKay cartoons, and work in both indie and AAA game titles.One time he accidentally broke into the grounds of the Vienna National Gallery, but in his defense, they left the gate open.Sports News | 【国内4月24日発売予定】ナイキ ウィメンズ エア アクア リフト 全2色 – スニーカーウォーズ

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