Contents:
-New videos from summer Milestones concert now available!
-Upcoming Concert Feature Reminder: Thrive Music Live with Duo Cortona, playing Botticellian Trees, Jan. 4, 2020 at 8pm
-Podcast "Pause & Listen" launch party announced! Jan. 14, 2020 from 7-10pm
-Saxophone Sonata project progress update
Dear Friends,
As the holiday hustle engulfs us all, I hope everyone keeps warm, drives safe, and is able to have some moments of peace and tranquility during the hullabaloo of the end-of-year holidays. One of the videos. below, "Letters for John," might be a good listen for some of that tranquility. There are some updates and reminders: events coming up in January especially where I hope I'll see you!
If you are in Baltimore and are still looking for a gift for loved ones, you can always stop by Douglas Johnson's open studio, taking place on the shortest day of the year (December 21st) from 10am to 4pm at 1503 Park Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21217. Original works from a local artist make fantastic gifts, and so do the $25 2020 calendars, featuring 12 of Doug's paintings of landscapes: color and light to keep you through the changing seasons.
2019 is ending with tumult and turmoil. I hope you will continue to find inspiration, solace, challenge, and camaraderie in the art in your life. I hopefully include my own artwork in that, but just remember that, as much as keeping up with the news and weather updates is to continue to replenish the feed of our creative and emotional experiences. Stay warm inside, as well as bundled up!
New videos from summer Milestones concert now available!
My second blog post, "The Viola in My Life," shared the majority of the videos from the weekend of musical performances that composer Christopher Lowry and I put on in September, 2019. I'm very excited to share with you two final videos that round out the Milestones/New Music DC 2019 weekend: First, the premiere performance of the final version of the sequel to my 2009 Fantasy for viola and piano, composed for the Intimacy of Creativity conference: Recurring Dream: Second Fantasy, performed both at Milestones and at the New Music DC 2019 conference.
Recurring Dream: Second Fantasy (2019), by Peter Dayton
Second, the encore from Milestones, an arrangement of Letters for John, a composition from 2017 using the letters of John Hitchens's name to form a set of intervals that inform every note of the piece. The work has a similar character to Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you, again to Chris, for your skillful playing and editing!
Letters for John (2017), arr. for Viola and Piano, by Peter Dayton
Concert Reminder: Thrive Music Live with Duo Cortona, playing Peter's Botticellian Trees, Jan. 4, 2020 at 8pm
Even as everyone's calendars are brimming with celebrations and events into the new year. Just a reminder to mark your 2020 calendars (maybe even a Doug Johnson original!) for January 4, 2020 at 8pm, to join us for Thrive Music Live, featuring Duo Cortona: mezzo Rachel Calloway and violinist Ari Streisfeld. Peter’s Botticellian Trees: Four Songs on texts by William Carlos Williams will be performed alongside other contemporary works.
Podcast "Pause & Listen" launch party announced! Jan. 14, 2020 from 7-10pm
My previous blog post referenced WBJC Classical DJ John T.K. Scherch's new podcast about contemporary composition, “Pause and Listen.” The podcast features Baltimore’s rich array of talented and experienced local classical musicians to discuss showcase and discuss contemporary classical music that they think it important to hear. Many of my friends, colleagues, and musicians whom I admire have participated in episodes of this podcast - I am very excited to listen to the other episodes! Another date to mark in your calendar is January 14, 2020 - the date of the release party for "Pause & Listen." The release party will take place from 7-10pm at the wine bar Fadensonnen (3 W 23rd St, Baltimore, MD 21218). We'll see you there!
Saxophone Sonata project progress update
A movement of the saxophone sonata I have begun for saxophonist Kyle Blake Jones is now complete! This particular movement is a kind of soliloquy for the saxophone, with extra space and resonance from the piano, which keeps the pedal engaged throughout the entire movement. I've started sketches for a finale of what is developing into a 4-movement work. I look forward to continuing the dialogue with Kyle into and through the new year, and look forward to seeing him perform in Baltimore in January.
Look for more updates after the New Year. See you in 2020!
-Peter