This year I have had three pieces of mine selected for music festivals. UCM is the second festival of the year and I have to admit I was pretty happy to visit my parents' homeland of Missouri.
Since Brian is not a huge fan of travel and I'd be paying for the trip myself, it seemed better in the larger scheme of things if I traveled there on my own. So with the help of a train, plane and automobile I got to Warrensburg, MO.
There was a decent turn out for the concerts, even for mine which is always surprising for the last day of a festival when most people decide to head home. The performance went well (it should I've been playing it long enough) and it seemed to be well received. I even got to meet flutist Rebecca Ashe who performed Mike McFarren's "Open Circuit". The piece was certainly a workout for the flutist, but well worth all the work. If you want to have the opportunity to feel like a rockstar, this piece is it!
Even though I do love performing "Smorgasbord" I hope at some point someone else will take it on and perform it as well. Then again, when "Tamar" was going to be performed by the UAH Flute Choir in February at UAH's New Music Festival I felt a little left out that I might not get to join in on the fun onstage. But last minute I had to fill in and I even got to play the alto flute!
I will get the opportunity to just sit in the audience for my compositions later this year. I will complete a new commission which I will definitely be unable to perform and the Dahlia Flute Duo will be performing "Chatter" at the IAWM Congress in Arizona in September. I can't wait!
For the time being I'm done with my music travels until late summer and need to get busy writing new works. I am looking forward to a summer of writing and staying home with Brian and the dogs...I guess the cat is alright too.
