2017 Spring "Tour" Recap!

I was on the "road" for almost two weeks, and had the best time! We won't mention the stomach bug I managed to catch while in Colorado, but other than that it was amazing. I hope its something I get to do more.

Three-Nine Line and French Quarter were performed by members of Flute New Music Consortium at the Music By Women Festival at Mississippi University for Women. Flutist Mary Matthews and pianist Edith Widayani gave a beautiful performance of the first two movements of Three-Nine Line. And members of FNMC, Nicole Riner,  Katherine Ementh, Shelley Collins, and Olivia Boatman performed the first movement of French Quarter. It was a wonderful festival that I hope I can return to soon.

The students of Boulder Country Day School premiered "E Pluribus, Unum" during their Fine Arts Week. I loved working with the students and even made my percussion performance debut. Composing for young students is always such a challege, and I hope its something I get to do more. They get so excited to perform and its fun to watch.





The students at the University of Wyoming learned how to "Beatbox to a Better Bach" and why I'm such a "Glutton for Gimmicks". "Beatboxing to a Better Bach" is the most requested workshop and I have given it serveral times. "Glutton for Gimmicks" explains why I compose the way I do, and what my process is like for implementing into my work.





Then it was off to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to present "The Piccolo Music of Nicole Chamberlain" thanks to piccoloists Elizabeth Robinson and Alyssa Borrell. I am always flattered when musicians want to do a full concert of my works, and I was glad that I could be out there to be a part of it and witness other people playing my music so well.





Finally, I made to Kansas State University where I got to present "Beatboxing to a Better Bach", "Glutton for Gimmocks, a Composer's Addiction to Extended Techniques", and "The Hustle". Everyone was such great sports, and I had the best time everywhere I got to visit. I love travelling, but its even better when I get to visit with friends, make new ones, and make music. Its a great job!

2017 NFA Awards!

There's no way to post this article without it being humble-braggy. It's totally crazy. Here's what happened for this year's NFA awards:

2017 Flute Choir Composition Competition Winner - Chivy for flute choir

2017 Newly Published Music Awards:
Asphyxia - Winner for Solo Flute
Wail for flute and trombone - Winner for Flute and Other Instruments
In Cahoots for flute duo & Orion's Belt for flute trio - Finalists for Flute Chamber Works
Trisection - Honorable Mention for Flute Chamber Works
Lilliputian - Honorable Mention for Flute and Other Instruments
Dizzy - Honorable Mention for Flute Choir

See y'all in Minneapolis. I already bought my plane ticket.

We're Recording an Album of My Music!

A New Year's Resolution of mine every year has been to make an album of my music, and every year I find the task to daunting to do it. Come to find out, it was only daunting because I didn't have friends I love, trust, with amazing chops to help me. This is the year, we make an album.

It's finally happening! I'm recording an album of my flute music with a couple of amazing musicians, flutists Mary Matthews and Matthew Angelo. We've been long time collaborators and schemers. They've have premiered the bulk of my flute music, we've gone on roadtrips, and there's been amazing performances. It only makes sense that these be the first people I record an album with.

So here's the catch. It takes quite a bit of money to make that happen. A successful album can help a musician's career, and we're hoping this album will shake some things loose for us. We have a contract with MSR Classics label, but we need to hire a recording engineer, cover CD manufacturing costs, and promotional materials. If you could pitch in some money, we have some wonderful rewards including the CD, signed scores of Asphyxia, and even online video flute lessons! We started a Go Fund Me Campaign, and hope you will contribute so we can make this happen. And if you were looking for a belated 40th birthday gift, this would be awesome :)

Metallica's "Enter Sandman" for beatboxing flute quartet

I don't do many competitions. I prefer to self-publish for reasons I won't get into here, but this blog article by John Mackey says it all. However, this time I made an exception to both.

I don't like to do competitions unless: A. It costs me nothing (or minimal), B. I can get a good performance by another group in the likely event I will lose, C. If I feel its something that would sell, and D. If it feels a void in my catalog. This competition let me do all sorts of things I couldn't do on my own.

Securing rights to anything is tricky and seems like a daunting task that I would not enjoy at any point in the process. Sheet Music Press does make it easy for me to look through their catalog of titles and find something that appeals to me and decide to do it. In this instance, I thought how crazy fun it would be to make an arrangement of  Metallica's "Enter Sandman" using extended techniques then get my flute quartet to perform it (none of them have or had listen to heavy metal).

The other great thing about this competition is that it is based on sales, so it makes me push things more (get back to blogging!) So here I am, pushing and hustling. Get on it kids! Buy my cheesy arrangement of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" for beatboxing flute quartet. I have to get my sales in by June 24!