Preconcert sangria with composer Stefano Gervasoni just before the performance of his ‘Six lettres à l’obscurité’ by the Mivos Quartet.

Greets, everybody! As life would have it, just as soon as I’m finally able to post about my last week in Spain, I’m already off to the next destination: Israel. I’m settling in just fine, but before it gets super busy here in Tel Aviv, I’d like to tell you just how engaging this last week has been at the Valencia International Performance Academy (VIPA).

This was the first year VIPA had composers; formerly it was a summer piano academy run by the pianist, composer and conductor Carlos Amat. Now he’s teamed up with Jason Thorpe Buchanan to form a larger international festival, which in its first year featured composers from a myriad of geographic and aesthetic origins. I wasn’t sure what to expect here, but I knew I’d finally get to spend some more time with composers I’ve met sporadically over the last couple of years. Not only did that pan out in good favor, the instruction of our composers-in-residence and the artistry of the ensembles proved to be extremely helpful.

View from the beach in Valencia

I wrote The Fiction of Time Destroyed (2015) for the NOMOS Group, Carlos Amat’s ensemble, and they did a superb job with the premiere just over a week ago. I also had a reading with the incredible Mivos Quartet, who I’d just seen perform at the Museum of the Moving Image weeks earlier. It’s an amazing feeling when such great players confirm that your ideas work! At VIPA I also ran tech, recorded, and photographed the concerts, which gave me a chance to interact closely with other composers. Aaaaand now I’ve got plenty to edit over the next few months!

I’ll post more photos from Spain soon, as well as a recording of the new piece. Things are already busy in Tel Aviv, though I’m eager to get this out soon. Until then, ciao! —