Dear Friends,

Hope your year is off to a good start, considering the continued insanity surrounding us. As Brecht wrote: “In the dark times / Will there also be singing? / Yes, there will also be singing / About the dark times.”

It is in that spirit that I bring tidings of my life:

First, this coming January 16 at 7 EST, my dear friends Hub New Music will give the world premiere, via livestream, of New Addresses, a 10 minute quartet that I wrote for them this past year. It’s inspired by the poetry of Kenneth Koch and will be free to stream for a month. I’d really love for you to tune in. It’s free, via Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, though they gratefully accept donations.

Shortly after, on January 28 at 9pm EST, Andy Meyerson of the Living Earth Show and I will do a livestream premiere of a mastered and recut version of A Natural History of Vacant Lots,a film of percussion and dance featuring the Post:Ballet. The audio will be released on all platforms and Andy and I will do a short Q&A after the stream.

In April, the Cincinnati Symphony revamped the second half of their season and it features the premiere of a new concerto for CSO members Bob Sullivan (Trumpet) and Chris Olka (Tuba). I’m putting the finishing touches on it now and there will be live shows with limited, socially distant audiences on April 9, 10, and 11, and then a livestream to watch on April 30 (tickets for all available here).

A couple of pieces of media, old and new: The New York Times included my piece Don’t Look Down as one of the best classical performances of 2020, and just today, my dear friend and contemporary music YouTuber extraordinaire David Bruce just did a very deep into my work all in search of what he called a quantum rhythm. Here’s the video:

Last but certainly not least, I got married this past December! You can read all about it here in the The New York Times, who profiled us.

Stay Safe!
Chris