Had a couple of things happen on the handbell front today. I checked at Jeffers Handbell Supply this morning to look at their Hot 40 list for the week -- their top 40 selling handbell pieces for the past 90 days -- and was pleasantly surprised to see that O Sacred Head, Now Wounded was on there. The last time I had a piece on the Hot 40 list was back from August 2007 to January 2008 with Il Est Né. Needless to say, it's exciting to have a second piece on there, especially since I only have 5 pieces currently in print.
I also got an email from Doug Wagner at Lorenz tonight with a pdf of the proof for Kum Ba Yah. I'll look at that over the next couple of days and send changes back to him, because there are always changes. No matter how many proofs of pieces I see, it's always still exciting. I've been using Finale to print out all my scores for years, and have printed out my proof copies here at home on a laser printer for the past year and a half or so, but the proof copies from the publishers still always look so nice and neat and pretty. It's always thrilling to get my hands on them, even though I know it means another couple hours worth of painstaking work checking all the notes, rhythms, articulations, and everything else.
On a less happy note, I did hear back from John Behnke at AGEHR about the two originals I sent him back in February, and they've decided to pass on them. I've sent them on to Jeff Curran at Jeffers and hope to hear back from them in a few months. More waiting. Lovely.
I also spent a bit of time today working on an arrangement of The Holly and the Ivy and hope to have it done some time this week. It's Spring Break, so there should be plenty of time for me to get it finished up, and hopefully one other piece before things start back up next week. I'm still eagerly awaiting summer vacation so I'll have several weeks in a row to get some composing done. Until then, I'll just keep plugging along. Happy April Eve, all.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
CAHF Again
I just checked on the official site for the Capital Area Handbell Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina and discovered that With Heart and Soul and Voice will be one of the featured selections this November. The clinician will be Dr. William Payn, and the festival will be most of the day on Saturday, November 7. I don't know if I'll be attending the festival again this year (November is a long way away) but I sure would like to. I attended in 2007 when Il Est Né was one of the seletions, then last year, my wife, sister, and I all rang in the festival, which was a blast, since as a conductor I don't get to spend very much time just playing. I'll post here when or if I decide to go, but I just wanted to share the news.
Hope everyone out there (at least those of us in zones which actually see four real, distinct seasons) are enjoying the dawning of spring and the rebirth of all the nice green growing things out there. More later!
Hope everyone out there (at least those of us in zones which actually see four real, distinct seasons) are enjoying the dawning of spring and the rebirth of all the nice green growing things out there. More later!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
How I Love a Rainy Night
It's a dark dreary night here in Indianapolis, the perfect time to add a long-overdue blog post.
I heard back from Doug Wagner about Portraits of the Cross and discovered that while it was a good piece, it was about a month too late for him as he'd just accepted two other pieces using the tunes I used. In publishing, as in everything, timing is everything. It reminds me of a joke my wife tells which only comes off when spoken and will fall rather flat on the screen ("Do you know what the most important part of comedy is? Timing." Yeah, really flat on the screen.) But perseverance is everything in getting published, so I've sent it off to Alan Lohr at SoundForth, someone else who had sent me some encouraging words after some of my previous submissions. Now just need to wait to hear back.
Still have four pieces out to Bill Griffin at Beckenhorst and a pair of originals to John Behnke at AGEHR (whom I should be hearing back from by the end of the month).
Oh, and the Processional for Easter Day was a bit of a flop and so has been scratched, at least on the handbell side, though I'll try to salvage the organ part of it.
Right now I'm working on an arrangement of The Holly and the Ivy, which I did the rough draft of back last summer. I'm actually discovering I have quite a number of workable rough drafts which just need some tweaking before they can be sent out, so I'll likely spend much of my time between now and when school lets out just working with those, then tackle some new pieces come June. I'm hopeful this one will be another Beckenhorst piece, continuing my streak of annual Christmas arrangements published by them. Of course, I still have to get it done, which shouldn't take too long.
Well, the rain has let up, so I think it's time to get on to other things. Until next time!
I heard back from Doug Wagner about Portraits of the Cross and discovered that while it was a good piece, it was about a month too late for him as he'd just accepted two other pieces using the tunes I used. In publishing, as in everything, timing is everything. It reminds me of a joke my wife tells which only comes off when spoken and will fall rather flat on the screen ("Do you know what the most important part of comedy is? Timing." Yeah, really flat on the screen.) But perseverance is everything in getting published, so I've sent it off to Alan Lohr at SoundForth, someone else who had sent me some encouraging words after some of my previous submissions. Now just need to wait to hear back.
Still have four pieces out to Bill Griffin at Beckenhorst and a pair of originals to John Behnke at AGEHR (whom I should be hearing back from by the end of the month).
Oh, and the Processional for Easter Day was a bit of a flop and so has been scratched, at least on the handbell side, though I'll try to salvage the organ part of it.
Right now I'm working on an arrangement of The Holly and the Ivy, which I did the rough draft of back last summer. I'm actually discovering I have quite a number of workable rough drafts which just need some tweaking before they can be sent out, so I'll likely spend much of my time between now and when school lets out just working with those, then tackle some new pieces come June. I'm hopeful this one will be another Beckenhorst piece, continuing my streak of annual Christmas arrangements published by them. Of course, I still have to get it done, which shouldn't take too long.
Well, the rain has let up, so I think it's time to get on to other things. Until next time!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Portraits
Just finished up yesterday a new handbell arrangement called Portraits of the Cross. It's a collection of four different "cross" hymns ("Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross", "In the Cross of Christ I Glory", "Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone", and "The Old Rugged Cross"), very nostalgic, and simpler to play than some of my arrangements. I've sent it off to Doug Wagner at Lorenz, along with my bio and picture, something he wanted for their website (what is it with people wanting to know about me, anyway?).
On a bit of a tangent, just a quick word about Doug Wagner -- the man has an almost inhumanly-fast response time on correspondence. I think about two minutes after I'd send him the bio and picture, he'd responded letting me know he got it. I think the longest I've had to wait to hear from him on whether or not he's accepting a piece of mine is two days. Fastest time (a rejection, sadly) was I think about an hour and a half. For somebody like me who sends his creations out into the world to be judged and hopefully accepted, it lets me keep intact what little remains of my sanity.
On a bit of a tangent, just a quick word about Doug Wagner -- the man has an almost inhumanly-fast response time on correspondence. I think about two minutes after I'd send him the bio and picture, he'd responded letting me know he got it. I think the longest I've had to wait to hear from him on whether or not he's accepting a piece of mine is two days. Fastest time (a rejection, sadly) was I think about an hour and a half. For somebody like me who sends his creations out into the world to be judged and hopefully accepted, it lets me keep intact what little remains of my sanity.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
This is what it's all about
First, tonight I finished a set of four choral responses for Easter Day. They're two part, so they should be accessible by our choir at church, and should add a nice touch to Easter service.
Now, as for the title of the post ... I taught a piano lesson tonight with a seventh grader. I just picked him up a few months ago when his former teacher left to move to Florida permanently. Well, I knew he was a fabulous pianist, but the strides this student has taken in the past several months are just astounding, and next to none of his improvement has anything to do with my teaching.
We started before the first of the year doing some duets, and he took to them fabulously. I've always had fun playing duets, but to see a student having just as much fun -- and providing me with the sort of enjoyment I don't usually experience playing with students -- was just warming to my heart.
Then came jazz.
He had mentioned offhandedly to his mom that he might like to try some jazz, but then only when she pressured him during lesson did he actually admit it to me. Well, he's been working on some jazz pieces for a few months, and what I heard tonight ... my friends, this is what making music and teaching it are all about. He improvized with it, changed it up, and all of it in the sort of way I'd expect someone far older and more musically mature to do.
Rarely does a student stop playing a piece and leave me not just speechless, but flabbergasted. Finding myself as such this evening was the highlight of the past several weeks for me. I can only imagine what he has in store for me in the future.
Now, as for the title of the post ... I taught a piano lesson tonight with a seventh grader. I just picked him up a few months ago when his former teacher left to move to Florida permanently. Well, I knew he was a fabulous pianist, but the strides this student has taken in the past several months are just astounding, and next to none of his improvement has anything to do with my teaching.
We started before the first of the year doing some duets, and he took to them fabulously. I've always had fun playing duets, but to see a student having just as much fun -- and providing me with the sort of enjoyment I don't usually experience playing with students -- was just warming to my heart.
Then came jazz.
He had mentioned offhandedly to his mom that he might like to try some jazz, but then only when she pressured him during lesson did he actually admit it to me. Well, he's been working on some jazz pieces for a few months, and what I heard tonight ... my friends, this is what making music and teaching it are all about. He improvized with it, changed it up, and all of it in the sort of way I'd expect someone far older and more musically mature to do.
Rarely does a student stop playing a piece and leave me not just speechless, but flabbergasted. Finding myself as such this evening was the highlight of the past several weeks for me. I can only imagine what he has in store for me in the future.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Minor Composing
No, I'm not talking about composing for young people (although I suppose my latest little bit of work could count as that). I've just finished a rough draft of a Processional for Easter Day for handbells and organ. It's not much, but it's something to fill that awkward part of Easter morning between everyone showing up and the ministers getting to the front of the sanctuary. Hopefully it'll be loud enough that everyone will realize that service is starting, too.
I've also worked on a choral response or two, also for Easter. We've recently had a turnover at our church, and our music program all but disappeared. Our music directors both left, and I was asked to step in on an interim basis. Going into it back in January, I thought things would be fairly hopeless.
Oh me of little faith.
We've got as many members in our handbell choir as we did before anyone left, and our vocal choir seems to pick up a new member every week or two. However it's still a small choir, so most of what we're doing is unison and two-part music, which is a pain since most of what's in our church's library is SATB. This means I'm scrounging for appropriate and accessible music, or else writing what we need. Hence the choral responses.
I'm still waiting to get proofs from Beckenhorst on O Come All Ye Fatihful, and waiting to hear from them and AGEHR on a total of six different pieces. If you've never submitted anything for publication before, let me warn you right now -- the waiting is the hardest part. At least when I'm composing, I can be doing something, but once you submit, it's a waiting game; and no matter how many pieces I have accepted, no matter how much I put my pieces out there, I still find myself breathlessly checking my email and my mailbox every day, hoping for some good news ... and after a while, any news at all.
Until then, here's hoping I'll be able to share some good news with you all sometime very soon...
I've also worked on a choral response or two, also for Easter. We've recently had a turnover at our church, and our music program all but disappeared. Our music directors both left, and I was asked to step in on an interim basis. Going into it back in January, I thought things would be fairly hopeless.
Oh me of little faith.
We've got as many members in our handbell choir as we did before anyone left, and our vocal choir seems to pick up a new member every week or two. However it's still a small choir, so most of what we're doing is unison and two-part music, which is a pain since most of what's in our church's library is SATB. This means I'm scrounging for appropriate and accessible music, or else writing what we need. Hence the choral responses.
I'm still waiting to get proofs from Beckenhorst on O Come All Ye Fatihful, and waiting to hear from them and AGEHR on a total of six different pieces. If you've never submitted anything for publication before, let me warn you right now -- the waiting is the hardest part. At least when I'm composing, I can be doing something, but once you submit, it's a waiting game; and no matter how many pieces I have accepted, no matter how much I put my pieces out there, I still find myself breathlessly checking my email and my mailbox every day, hoping for some good news ... and after a while, any news at all.
Until then, here's hoping I'll be able to share some good news with you all sometime very soon...
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