After Italian class today, the composers spent some time learning a few Italian poems which might be the starting points for new art songs. More on that project tomorrow… It’s starting to heat up in Duino, so after a busy morning and afternoon of classes, a group of us headed to a small, secluded beach in Duino in an area called Cernizza. The water was amazing and felt so nice in the afternoon sun. Tonight, our illustrious cello students will be playing in a masterclass with Manny, cellist in the... Read The Rest →

Today felt like our first “real” day of IMFA. We began with announcements and an Italian lesson from Stefano, which ended with a brief musical warm-up, using solfège and the opening phrase of an Italian madrigal. The composers then met for a seminar in which we listened to musical works by Max and Rachel, then heard progress reports on our electronic etudes. Some good sounds were discovered and recorded. In the afternoon, we had individual meetings with two students; the other two will have private lessons tomorrow. This is our... Read The Rest →

We began the first official day of classes today, though we eased into things so that no one felt too overwhelmed (except our directors, Spencer and Andy, who have been feverishly working since they arrived). Breakfast runs from 7:45-8:45. Ordinarily, we’ll have a short Italian lesson with Stefano, but today, we spent about 90 minutes going over orientation information, answering questions, and taking a quick tour of the campus. Several of the chamber groups rehearsed at noon and later at 2 pm, while the composition studio had our first seminar... Read The Rest →

Unlike last year, I arrived two days before the start of the festival, so I feel a little more acclimated to the environment and a little more caught up on sleep. Yesterday (Saturday) was a beautiful day, with a high temperature in the mid 70’s and sunny most of the day. I had some time to compose in the afternoon, and Spencer had a nice practice session. For dinner, we made a salad with fresh greens, tomatoes and cucumber from the TuttiDi, the local market on the main piazza in... Read The Rest →

Hello, all! We are back in Duino, Italy, for the second edition of the International Music Festival of the Adriatic. The students and I will be posting daily about our activities and adventures. Our community will begin arriving tomorrow and classes will start on Monday. Till then, here are some photos from last night and today.

This will (most likely) be the last post relating to IMFA and my adventures in Italy. It has been an exhilarating month in many ways, musically and otherwise. I’ve been fortunate to work with terrific colleagues and super student-musicians. I’ve seen a tremendous amount of growth in a short period of time, which gives me great pleasure and also hope for the futures of these young composers. Tonight we heard premieres by Neil (a short solo piano piece as well as a a work for violin and electronics), Evan (violin... Read The Rest →

Another full day of rehearsals…and the first of our two final concerts at IMFA. Tonight, we heard premieres of works by myself (voice and electronics, using a line from Rilke’s First Elegy) and Jamie Leidwinger (for voice, viola, horn and piano, using a different excerpt from Rilke). I’m happy to report that both pieces went very well and were happily received by our audience! Tomorrow, we’ll hear new works by Neil, Ben and Evan, as well as two older works by Stefano (a string quartet movement and a short work... Read The Rest →

Today was a day of rehearsals. All four composers had hour-long rehearsals on their pieces, and all four will have an additional 30-40 minute rehearsal on the day of the concert. One of the hallmarks of summer music festivals, especially those involving composition, is that new works tend to feel under-rehearsed. We are working diligently to reverse that trend at IMFA! This afternoon, we were treated to an outing at the opera. Trieste has a wonderful opera house with a close association to Verdi–two of his early works were premiered... Read The Rest →

Today was our third and final visit to the Duino castle, where we performed a concert of chamber and vocal music, and, as a special surprise, the composition studio created a sound installation in the “grotta,” a strange, cave-like room on the ground floor of the castle. Following those musical adventures, we joined our friends at the Mozart society for the eponymous “Mozart BBQ,” a much-anticipated event in the festival. We were not disappointed! We were served a bevy of beverages and a mountain of meat, including a local sausage... Read The Rest →

Bravi to Neil, Ben, Jamie and Evan for finishing their pieces by 8:30 this morning! After an otherwise slow morning, we all boarded three buses for a road trip to Rovereto, a beautiful city about 3.5 hours from Duino. We headed west towards Venice and then north, which took us through some beautiful mountain ranges, sprinkled with charming villages, each with its own castle (or so it seemed) and bell tower. Once in Rovereto, we arrived at the Mozart Society, one of 24 scattered throughout Italy (the IMFA is co-sponsored... Read The Rest →