ABOUT MY MUSIC

I'm fascinated with the exploration of the spaces where composition and improvisation meet.

My chamber music employs diverse systems of structured improvisation and make use of a highly-personal modal vocabulary. These pieces are written specifically for the individuals performer(s) with the intent of forging close and mutually creative relationships. Sometimes I utilize electronic accompaniments consisting of densely layered microtonal drones which determine the form of the pieces as they change.

My electronic music (I lack even a satisfying term for my medium, for theatre is to film as music is to _______?) often involves playing a game with personal history. Since 1996, I have recorded and produced many of my own compositions, studies, and improvisations as a solo performer, including a large catalog of rock music from my teens. Most of my electronic music involves sampling these recordings to create new pieces. In works like Summa de Nada, moments of the past deemed "worth remembering" are redefined, transformed, and recontextualized so they might be enjoyed anew without the confusion and errors in aesthetic judgment which orginally surrounded them. While the end-result is more recorded music, the process is one of improvising with "composed" moments.

Occasionally I also notate or record conventionally-linear compositions that somehow manage to survive relatively unchanged. Many of these are driven by a minimalistic process I call "collapsible form."

I have had the pleasure of studying with numerous composers including Richard Teitelbaum, Kyle Gann, Stephen Mosko, James Tenney, and Anne LeBaron as well as with artist Sara Roberts.