Busy...an understatement

To say that I've been busy would be a huge understatement, but let's see if I can fill ya in on what I've been doin since my last post in JANUARY!

1. Doin a little performing with Mercury Season as always.

2. "Chatter" has been performed a few times by 4 different ensembles. (Including a group in Slovenia). Love this performance by Matt and Mary at the Hartt School:



3. "Tamar" has also gotten quite a few performances by different ensembles (including my own Perimeter Flutes)

4. Performed at the Atlanta Flute Festival and Jacksonville State University Flute Festival with Perimeter Flutes. Including trying out a contrabass flute for the first time (see video below)!

5. World premiere of "Trajectory" at the Women Composers Festival in Hartford, CT by Dahlia Flute Duo and Pablo Issa Skaric. Which included a snow delay (picture below)

6. Performed some killer new flute music by Tim Jansa and John Anthony Lennon at Terminus Ensemble concert.

7. Commissioned and completed: "Whitsun" for clarinet and organ, "Byzantium" for Wesleyan School Middle School Concert Band, "Elasticity" for Cuatro Puntos, and "French Quarter" for Perimeter Flutes.

8. Won the 2013 Areon Flutes International Composition Competition and now get to write a 12 minute flute trio to be premiered by Areon Flutes in their 2013-2014 season!

So what's next?
Well lots of things. I get to attend four premieres, which is the most exciting about composing. I get to work with the ensembles and sometimes (lately most of the time) I just get to show up and hear someone do the heavy lifting of making the piece happen. I also get to travel! 3 out of the 4 premieres coming up will require me to leave Hotlanta if I want to hear it live and hang with the performers. Any excuse to travel! I am even in the middle of having my passport renewed just in case I might get the opportunity to hear "Elasticity" in Bolivia, but that's another can of worms.

Right now I have one main mission, and that is to roll up my sleeves and get to work on the Areon Flutes commission. I suppose I also need to has out the details of performing "French Quarter" at the National Flute Association Convention in August in New Orleans! It's been busy, the good kind of busy and I hope the next 6 months keep the momentum going!

Two Commissions at the Same Time!

I hope everyone's 2013 is off to a great start! This year is showing some promise, and I have the first ever two commissions due about the same time.

One commission is from the Wesleyan Middle School Band in Norcross, GA under the direction of Dr. Ruthie Colegrove. Ironically, across the street where I spent 5 years working as a web designer. The piece will premiere on May 9th.

Another commission is from a high school/college friend, Helen Saile, who premiered many of my clarinet "pieces" when I was in studying composition at UGA. She will be performing with the fabulous organist Brad Hughley on an incredible organ at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Atlanta, GA. I'm

getting a lesson on that organ next week, and I am excited to hear what it can do. This piece will premiere on May 19th.

Now, how to juggle two very different things at once? That is a new challenge. I typically do one thing at a time, but it looks like I will need to find balance. So here it goes I suppose.

There's some more possibilities lined up for the year, but won't get confirmation until Feb/March on those. I'll be sure to keep you posted!

2013 Resolutions

Why is this the only 2012 picture of us together? Not this year!

Ok, so maybe I didn't accomplish any of my goals from last year, but priorities changed. We are going to make my husband's work the scapegoat here. His shifts changed and so our lives had to change, thus our goals changed. I ended up having to do some things without him, but that's ok. We were still able to collaborate on some things even if they were on an incredible small scale. At the very least I got a wonderful flute quartet that he composed for an ensemble I play in, Perimeter Flutes. I can't wait to premiere it! This year had its challenges though and we've had to roll with the punches.

Sam, world's best cuddler -  Miss you buddy!

This year we had to say goodbye to an incredible dog who I bonded with immediately and he even won over my husband. I really don't know who took Sam's death harder, me or my hubs. I'm glad Sam was a part of our lives, and I hope at some point we get another opportunity to share our home with another deaf dog. It's a totally different mind set in communication and relationship (especially for musicians), but a rewarding one. For now, we'll have to be happy with spoiling our little orphan Annie and I suppose the hub's 15 year old cat, Mikey (or tons of fun).

GSO rehearsing

Don't get me wrong 2012 wasn't a total washout. 2012 was the year for repeat performances and revisiting people and projects I have enjoyed in the past. I was commissioned to compose for the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, something I've wanted for a long time. Not only do I love writing for orchestra but the GSO is packed with friends who have a special place in my heart.  I also got to travel to hear some repeat performances of pieces that premiered in 2011, AND I got to compose for the Dahlia Flute Duo again. Looking forward to that premiere in March. If anything it was the year of repeat performances. Something I haven't really experienced in such magnitude, the main repeaters being "Rabbit Tales", "Tamar", "Chatter", and "Hopewell".

Fisticuffs rehearsal with Chamber Cartel

 2012 was also the year of participating with new ensembles: Perimeter Flutes, Chamber Cartel, and Terminus Ensemble. All three of these groups show promise and some fabulous talented people, most of whom I met this year and I hope its the continuation of some fabulous friendships and collaborations. However, I wish to NOT repeat the 5 hour performance of "For Philip Guston" by Morton Feldman. That, my friends, is a once in a lifetime experience for many reasons. Let's move onto new and exciting projects and experiences!

First photo of 2013!

So what about 2013? Well, there's already two commissions in the queue that I need to begin and one contract for a commission where the terms are agreed on, but just waiting for the administration to sign the contract. There are also 3 definite premieres on the calendar for 2013. I better get to work! I plan to compose a flute quartet, clarinet and organ duo, and hopefully more band music. There are also some personal things I would like to compose, but I'm going to keep those up in the air and see what the year brings. 2013 could end up like 2012 and my plans were not what God had in mind.

Christmas Music for flute and more!

Need some sheet music for this Christmas season?  I've arranged some!

Advanced Christmas Flute Duets that include:
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Silent Night
Coventry Carol
What Child Is This?
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Pat-A-Pan
We Three Kings of Orient Are

Do you want a solo that you can play with your pianist at Christmas? I also have an arrangement of "Away in a Manger" for flute and piano. Perfect for intermediate to advanced players. Highest note is F above the staff. Lowest note is A on the staff. Piece is approximately 2 1/2 minutes long. Great for Christmas church services!

Did you want to play something for solo flute or even bass flute? I have a solo flute arrangement of "I Wonder as I Wander". (This arrangement works well with other solo instruments as well like violin, oboe, etc) Perfect for intermediate to advanced players. Suitable for C flute, alto flute, bass flute, and violin. Piece is approximately 4 minutes long.

All these Christmas Music arrangements can be purchased using Paypal and will be delivered personally by me through email as a PDF within 24 hours! Merry Christmas!

World Premiere of "Ogeechee"

The past few weeks have seemed like some alternate reality of my life. I usually get a taste here and there of what it means to be a composer, but I think the past two weeks have seemed so surreal because that glimpse of a composers life has been a daily "routine". Over he past few weeks I have tried to balance rehearsal, travel, performances, composing, publicity, teaching, and networking. The end result is that the month has flown by and produced an amazing output of work and loads of new connections with musicians and music lovers. The challenge for the future is to keep these opportunities coming and find balance with the Chamberlain home.

I've certainly got enough irons in the fire with Perimeter Flutes, Mercury Season, Terminus Ensemble, and Chamber Cartel, not to mention all those flute students to teach and composing deadlines coming up soon, but last week was monopolized by the "Ogeechee" Premiere. The GSO only had an hour to rehearse "Ogeechee" over two days. It's amazing to see these musicians quickly work a piece over. I was incredibly happy with the performance, and it gave me further encouragement that I am on the right track. That what I love to compose and hear is working out in real life. I know these musicians as colleagues and friends, I knew what they were capable of as musicians, but it is overwhelming when I received the faith, support, and sincere support from the people I respect as people and artists.

At the end of the performance, I was asked to come to the podium to take the usual composer bow and expected the polite applause of the audience. I was unprepared when I turned around to take the bow to see people on their feet. I was unprepared for the emotional response of my parents and husband sitting in the audience. I am blessed with the love and support of a loving family, friends (two of which had commissioned me in the recent past), and a composer husband who understands everything about what I do. To see them be so excited for me and emotional after the performance was worth every note put on the page. It makes me feel that all the leaps of faith they gave me were not in vain.

I will be performing with Perimeter Flutes this week, and we'll be playing some
exciting music. Each concert is roughly an hour or less. Both concerts are free.
I hope to see you there!


September 18 at 8pm
neoPhonia
Red Clay Connections
Kopleff Recital Hall at Georgia State University
Music from the Outer Edge - Charles Knox (World premiere)
Tamar - Nicole Chamberlain
Moment's Notice by Nick Demos will also be performed by Jan Berry and Tania
Maxwell


September 19 at 1pm
Myths and Legends
Overture from Midsummer's Night Dream - Felix Mendelssohn
Legends from the Greenwood - Catherine McMichael
Music from the Outer Edge - Charles Knox
Creatures of the Enchanted Forest - Anze Rozman
Tamar - Nicole Chamberlain

Fine Arts Auditorium at Georgia Perimeter College - Clarkston
Performing full concert with Perimeter Flutes
http://perimeterflutes.com/

"Hopewell" and "Chatter" at 2012 SCI Region VI Conference

I was just notified that "Hopewell" for concert band and "Chatter" for two flutes will be performed at Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas at the Society of Composers 2012 Region VI Conference on October 5-6. You can learn more here: http://www.opsu.edu/Academics/LiberalArts/Music/Conference/

October is looking like another busy month this year!

Georgia Symphony Orchestra Commission

I finally have some exciting news. After a year of making plans, finding funding, and deciding on a concert date, I have a signed contract! I will composing an orchestra work for the Georgia Symphony Orchestra that will premiere on October 13, 2012. So I guess I know what I am doing the summer!

You can check out the Georgia Symphony Orchestra here: http://georgiasymphony.org/

Hope everyone is doing well and have a fabulous Memorial Day weekend!

Holy Week and Easter Flute Duets

Alleluia, Sing to Jesus
Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?
What Wonderous Love Is This?

Arranger: Nicole Chamberlain
Instrumentation: 2 C Flutes
Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Duration: 8 Minutes
Format: PDF
Price: $8.00

Arrangements of "Alleluia, Sing to Jesus", "Were you There When They Crucified My Lord", "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today!", and "What Wonderous Love Is This?". Buy all 4 in one click! Perfect for intermediate to advanced players. Highest note is 2nd A above the staff. Lowest note is C below the staff. Each piece is approximately 2 minutes long. Piece will be delivered as a PDF through email.

Rabbit Tales and Tamar

There are a few more performances of my opera "Rabbit Tales" this week by the
Atlanta Opera
(http://tickets.atlantaopera.org/auxiliary/psDetail.aspx?psn=49084):

Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 10AM & 1PM
Admission: $6
The Atlanta Opera Center
1575 Northside Dr. NW
Bldg. 300, Suite 350
Atlanta, GA 30318

Saturday, March 24, 2012, 11AM
Admission: $6
Fulton County Arts & Culture's Southwest Arts Center
915 New Hope Rd.
Atlanta, GA 30331

I will be making my debut performance with Perimeter Flute on Thursday (3/22) at
6:45pm at Greater Atlanta Christian School. We will be performing my flute
quartet "Tamar". Admission is free and there will be some free nosh as well.

More performances next week!

New "New Music" Ensemble Concerts in Atlanta

This week I will be performing with two new "new music" chamber ensembles here in Atlanta:

Wednesday (2/29) at 8pm
Chamber Cartel
John Adams "songbirdsongs" for two piccolos and percussion
www.chambercartel.com
The Goat Farm Arts Center

Sunday (3/4) at 3pm
Terminus Ensemble
"Between the Walls" by Brent Milam for flute, clarinet, cello, and piano
"Inventio Fortunata" by Drew Dolan for solo flute
www.terminusensemble.org
Central Library Branch, Atlanta-Fulton County Public Library

In between concerts I'll be in Hinesville, GA seeing a performance of my opera "Rabbit Tales" being performed at my nephew's school. And I will also be performing at 9am mass at the Christ the King Cathedral on Sunday.
Busy week! Yay!

Fiscal Sponsorship and Upcoming Performances

Another busy month is on deck! I have plans to perform with the new music ensembles Terminus Ensemble and Chamber Cartel as well as Perimeter Flutes. But, the Chamberlain Duo has secured fiscal sponsorship through Fractured Atlas. You can now make tax deductible contributions to our duo which will help us with operation, travel, recording and hiring other musicians. You can make donations here: https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/contribute/donate/5847

A lot of performances are planned over the next couple of weeks, especially with "Rabbit Tales" school tours kicking off today. Below is a list of public performances of "Rabbit Tales" as well as my flute performances:

February 26, 2012 at 3:00pm
Public performance of "Rabbit Tales" a children's opera, commissioned by the Atlanta Opera. at Decatur High School Theater, 310 N. McDonough St., Decatur, GA 30030

February 29, 2012 at 8:00pm
Performing "songbirdsongs" by John Luther Adams with the Chamber Cartel. at The Goat Farm

March 4, 2012 at 3:00pm
Performing works by Brent Milam and Drew Dolan with Terminus Ensemble at Central Library Branch, Atlanta-Fulton County Public Library

March 17, 2012 at 9:30am & 12:30pm
Performance of "Rabbit Tales" a children's opera, commissioned by the Atlanta Opera for Girl Scouts Day. at The Atlanta Opera Center, 1575 Northside Dr. NW, Bldg. 300, Suite 350, Atlanta, GA 30318

March 21, 2012 at 10am & 1pm
Public performance of "Rabbit Tales" a children's opera, commissioned by the Atlanta Opera. at The Atlanta Opera Center, 1575 Northside Dr. NW, Bldg. 300, Suite 350, Atlanta, GA 30318

March 24, 2012 at 11am
Public performance of "Rabbit Tales" a children's opera, commissioned by the Atlanta Opera. at Fulton County Arts and Culture's Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Rd, Atlanta, GA 30331

New Publisher: Spotted Rocket

After years of trying to use other publishers to sell and promote my music, I have decided to take matters into my own hands and create: SpottedRocket.com It only made sense as a trained graphic designer and music engraver that I market my own publishing company. So here we are, my very own publishing company. Right now I only publish my own sheet music via PDF. But, hopefully that will change in the future.

2011!?! That was fun!

So 2011 went better than I could ever imagine! With 6 world premieres, two commissions, multiple performances and traveling about every month that made for a record year! So what does 2012 have in store? Its basically a clean slate. There's a couple of possibilities, but nothing in stone. So again, I'll have to make something work.

This year will kick off getting the hubby more into the mix. We're trying to get a concert of our music in the spring and playing around more. We would also like to get a recording of the concert that we could peddle around. Of course it costs money to hire musicians and record. So we are going to try Fractured Atlas and perhaps Crowd Sourcing or Kickstarter. This is the year for making concrete plans and getting this bird to ave finally fly.

If I could have another year like 2011 I couldn't be happier, but only time and hard work will tell. Tomorrow I sit down and make a business plan for 2012!

I Wonder As I Wander - Bass Flute Solo

 This will be my last post of the year, unless something nuts happens between now and then. I have a bass flute on loan for the next month, and decided to write a Christmas solo for it (It will work for C Flute too). You can view a video of me wielding the beast and order the sheet music here: http://www.nikkinotes.com/IWonderAsIWander.html

We Three Kings Flute Duet

Listen

Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Duration: 2 Minutes
Format: PDF
Price: $2.00

This is an arrangement of the Christmas Carol "We Three Kings of Orient Are". Perfect for intermediate to advanced players. Piece remains in 3/4. Highest note is 2nd G above the staff. Lowest note is D below the staff. Piece is approximately 2 minutes long. Piece will be delivered as a PDF through email.

Chatter, Hopewell, and Rabbit Tales

It's been an amazing month to say the least. The premiere of "Rabbit Tales" had over 400 people in attendance. "Rabbit Tales" is expected to be performed over 50 times by the end of the 2011-2012 season.

"Chatter" has also been performed twice this month by two different duos. Another big thanks to the Dahlia Flute Duo who have really championed this piece for me, and performed it again at the Rochester Flute Fair. I would also like to thank Danielle Spaeth and Caylee Wells who performed "Chatter" for Danielle's graduate recital at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Anxiously waiting the recording :)

"Hopewell" will be performed on Tuesday at Winthrop University by the University's Symphonic Band under the direction of Catharine Bushman in Rock Hill, SC. This is Catharine's first concert as assistant band director at Winthrop University. Her doctorate is "in the mail". I am so excited to be a part of this concert!

That's it for now. I have three future commissions on the table in negotiations. We'll see if any of them shake down. It's been an exciting year, and it looks like next year I will continue in furiously composing (God willing).

Christmas Music for Flute Duo

 It's that time of year again. I currently have 6 different Christmas Carols arranged for flute duo:

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Silent Night
Coventry Carol
What Child Is This?
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Pat-A-Pan

You can buy them individually or you can buy them all at once here: http://www.nikkinotes.com/ChristmasDuets.html

Rabbit Tales!

So I composed this little children's opera for the Atlanta Opera called "Rabbit Tales" based on the Br'er Rabbit stories. What an incredibly fun project and creative team of people. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.  The premiere is on October 29, and the event is already "sold out". The opera is not taking any more reservations for the free event. How exciting!

Here's a photo of me with the cast as well as the librettist, Madeleine St. Romain, and stage director, Park Cofield.

World Premiere of "Nautica"

First, Athens Flute Choir had to postpone the performance of "Tamar". They hope to have it on the Oct 27 concert. I'll post details as I get them.

"Nautica", however, will be premiered on Tuesday (Oct 4) at 7:30pm at Georgia State University's Kopleff Recital Hall on their neoPhonia concert. ArtsCriticATL.com did an article about it here: http://www.artscriticatl.com/2011/09/neophonia-returns-with-atlanta-composers-world-premieres-for-red-clay-connections/

Yesterday was a pretty good day which included being a guest speaker at GSU composition seminar. I got a lot of fabulous questions, and I am glad I got the opportunity to talk to the grad and undergrad students.

Even more stuff is in the works. Can't wait until I can share it all!