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NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS
July, 2010
I have been preparing a concert transcription of Mahler's Fifth Symphony for solo piano, and am in the process of engraving it now. I am expecting to make it available in the Fall of 2010. This is not a "reduction," but rather a performable version of the piece. Although the task has been daunting at times, it is coming together well, and I hope to entice some intrepid pianists to perform it next year!
I will also be launching an online store which will make it easier to acquire my self-published scores and transcriptions. More on this soon!
March, 2010
Meet the Composer Foundation -
I received a grant to discuss my new compositions during a joint-concert tour with "Out of Context" and the "Proper Glue Duo" in April. This grant is funded in part through Meet The Composer's MetLife Creative Connections program. In addition to our formal concerts, the Proper Glue Duo will be presenting my music for two wrenchophones and bass drum, "Socket Monkey," at two hardware stores in Rochester and Fredonia, NY.
February, 2010
I'm very pleased to announce that a large article of mine will be published this Spring in Volume 59 of the Journal of the American Liszt Society. The article was adapted from my dissertation, and is entitled "Franz Liszt’s Trois odes funèbres: A Case Study in Intertextuality." I hope that you have a chance to read it--in any case, I encourage you to play through the piano versions of Liszt's Funeral Odes, which are truly remarkable pieces.
New pdf samples of recent transcriptions are now available on the compositions page! Many of these works have ossia passages for an extended range oboe (it possesses a low A, a half-step below a standard modern oboe). The instrument has an amazing sound, and my arm did not have to be twisted too far to write for it. Check out Alison Lowell's "Loboe" project blog for more information about the instrument and her work to promote its use.
Several new transcriptions for oboe, horn and piano will be premiered during Out of Context's upcoming tour of Colorado and Montana: Saint-Saens' symphonic poem Danse Macabre, transcribed and expanded by Liszt for solo piano, and further adapted/transcribed by myself for our trio; a Chopin Etude (Op.25,5), along with the previously announced transcriptions of Brahms (Poco Allegretto, from Symphony No.3) and Beethoven/Liszt (Adelaide).
RECENT EVENTS
July 9th, 2010
Zuzanna Szewczyk, piano
Smith Opera House
Geneva, NY
Program of solo piano music, including my Grey Mass
The new music collective What's Next will be including my septet The Triumph of Sisyphus on a concert in their LA Composers Project series. This series consists of three concerts at 8pm on the evenings of May 26th-May 28th, all at the Alfred Newman Recital Hall at the University of Southern California. Try to attend all three concerts if possible, as there will be a wide range of new music presented, including works by my friends Christopher Brakel, Vera Ivanova and Isaac Schankler!
May 26th, 2010 ~ 8:00pm
Alfred Newman Recital Hall
University of Southern California
LA Composers Project
What's Next
April, 2010
Four new pieces of mine were premiered at the end of April:
Socket Monkey, for 24 wrenches, 2 temple blocks and bass drum;
Grey Mass, for solo piano (part of set of piano pieces entitled Conversations with Scriabin);
The Prophecy of Dante, with Commentary by Keats, for soprano, oboe, violin, 2 percussionists and piano (sung text by Byron)
Reliquary (selected Relics), for piano and celesta
These pieces were performed as part of a concert series of music by Paul Coleman and myself:
Out Of Context: Tour II
April, 2010
Performances in Rochester and Fredonia, New York
In collaboration with composer Paul Coleman, the Proper Glue Percussion Duo,
Jamie Jordan, soprano; David Leung, violin; Zuzanna Szewczyk, piano; and Justin Hoke, celesta
PROGRAM
Toolshedding (Paul Coleman)
Fractured Colloquy (David Plylar)
Into Winters' Grey (Coleman)
Phantom Vignettes(Plylar)
Duo-duo (Coleman)
Grey Mass (Plylar)
Reliquary: Selected Relics (Plylar)
Violin Variations [-violations] (Coleman)
The Prophecy of Dante, with Commentary by Keats (Plylar)
Coupling (Coleman)
Socket Monkey (Plylar)
April 25th, 2010 ~ 8:30pm FREE
Messinger Hall - 10 Gibbs Street
Open Rehearsal ~ Free
Rochester, NY
April 26th, 2010 ~ 12:00pm FREE
Mayer Hardware, Inc.
New Music for Wrenches ~ Proper Glue Duo
Presentations by Paul Coleman and David Plylar
226 Winton Road North
Rochester, NY ~ Free
April 26th, 2010 ~ $10 Suggested Donation
7:15pm Pre-Concert Lecture
8:00pm Concert
Christ Church
Rochester, NY
$10 Suggested Donation, At the Door
April 27th, 2010 ~ 12:00pm
Valu Home Center
New Music for Wrenches ~ Proper Glue Duo
Presentations by Paul Coleman and David Plylar
10378 Bennett Road Rte. 60
Fredonia, NY ~ FREE
April 27th, 2010 ~ 5:00-6:00pm FREE
Suny Fredonia - 1022 Nathan Hall
Contemporary Music Forum - Q&A
Collaboration with Proper Glue Percussion Duo and Guests
Fredonia, NY ~ FREE
April 27th, 2010 ~ $5/$10
7:15pm Pre-Concert Lecture
8:00pm Concert
SUNY Fredonia - Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall
Collaboration with Proper Glue Percussion Duo and Guests
Featuring premieres by Paul Coleman and David Plylar
Fredonia, NY
$10 General Admission, $5 Students, At the Door
Current Composition Projects
Fracternal Twins
Two percussionists, woods and metals
Title TBA
Organ
Title TBA
Film Score, various instrumentation
Duration: c.90'