Late night performance of Feldman, ‘Five Pianos.’

The past week at June in Buffalo was terrific — excellent performances, new friends, new and varied ideas and personalities; everything you could ask for. It was wonderful hearing my Four Possible Čočeks (2014) for two trumpets or flugelhorns. Sam Wells and Tim Leopold of the Meridian Arts Ensemble gave a fantastic performance, and as soon as I have time to do some editing I’ll have a recording.

Sam Wells and Tim Leopold at Pausa Art House.

The only picture I caught of Sam and Tim is this one at the Pausa Art House, where we heard a night of contemporary chamber music outside of the normal concert venues we’d been frequenting around town and on campus. Here they are playing the music of Charles Wuorinen.

After an incredible masterclass with Brian Ferneyhough!

The masterclasses were the highlight of my time here. The many different composers invited to JiB offer a variety in the critique one receives. I collected as much as I could — between the notebook I carried around with my all week, and the occasional iPhone note when I couldn’t find my notebook. Lots of new ideas to consider for future pieces, in the revisions of my previous ones, etc.

The performances and workshops were superb, including those by Harvey Sollberger’s The Advancing Moment, Brian Ferneyhough’s Time and Motion Study II, given by cellist T.J. Borden, Roger Reynold’s Kokoro, given by Irvine Arditti, and many others. Hope to visit JiB again sometime!

Masterclass with Steven Stucky and fellow composers Ori Talmon, Joey Crane, Andrew Maxbauer, Zane Merritt, Texu Kim, and Ryan Jesperson. Photo by Irene Haupt.