Back to Life

Posted on Nov 30, 2015 in Updates

Back to Life

This post’s a bit lengthy, but if you’re really into it, subscribe to my newsletter. I get much more personal in those.

Residency Ending

All good things must come to an end. We will be finishing out almost 3 years in residence at Pearl Wine Co. this month. You only have one more chance to hear us on December 18.

I cannot express what a joy it has been to explore my music there and grow as a musician. Many thanks to the owner, Leora, for such an incredible run!

Project Overcome Fear

Remember my 2015 “Project Overcome Fear” video series on my Facebook page?

A few people asked me why I opted for Facebook over YouTube. YouTube now claims perpetual ownership of any content uploaded, so no.

Plus, this is Project Overcome Fear, not Project Exhibitionist. If you wanna see it, like my page. Likers gonna like.

I’m Finally Recording!

Thanks to all of you who contributed to my campaign to raise money for my album. Because I did not reach the minimum amount I needed for it to be worth offering the perks (daughter of an accountant), I took a few months to recalibrate.

In that process, the song list and theme changed to be more honest with the here and now. I’ve decided to separate this album from Convert Augustine. A lot has happened in one year, and I think now is the time to express it without tagging on to a much older story. We will begin December 18th!

Of course, if any of you who offered to help before still want to contribute financially, I won’t turn it down… 😉

Liturgical Psalm Project

In June of 2014, I gave myself a compositional and devotional challenge: to musically set every Responsorial Psalm on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation for the entire 3-year Catholic liturgical cycle.This comes out to about 65 settings a year, so I figured I could use it as a means of personal prayer 1-2 times a week. I started mid-way through Year A, and I’m so amazed to say I just finished the entirety of Year B!

So into Advent of Year C and continuing the fruitful exercise. There’s something to be said for discipline on weeks I feel I have nothing, only to listen back a month later with understanding that I couldn’t hear it at the time, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.

New Orleans Vocal Arts VOCE

One of the most surreal and ecstatic moments of this year was when I was accepted into the small ensemble of VOCE, a subset of the New Orleans Vocal Arts Chorale. As Loyola Artists in Residence, NOVA Chorale is under the direction of conductor, Dr. Meg Frazier, whom every choral singer and conductor I’ve met aspires to be.

We will have a few concerts next year, including one that is sure to lift the spirits in this horrible time of world and national conflict, entitled Pace, or “peace/respect.”

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Composing and Local Love

Posted on Oct 25, 2013 in Updates

Composing and Local Love

Well, this has been a lovely month! Here are some cool things in the works:

I am being commissioned to compose a Psalm for Christmas Midnight mass at the New Orleans Jesuit Church. I submitted a few of my old liturgical pieces to the musical director for possible inclusion in our liturgy, and he asked me to compose a brand new piece for flute, two violins, cello, organ, soloist, and chorus!

If you haven’t seen the beauty or heard the acoustics in that place, you are certainly missing out. As Musical Director, Paul Wattingy, describes it, “you could turn on a vacuum cleaner, and it would sound beautiful in here.” Hopefully my music will sound a few notches better than that…

I am aPoster 131005lso in the planning stages for a new album. When I went through my music a few months ago, I saw I had 40 unrecorded originals! I’ve been performing some of them regularly, and I will probably write some new ones to fill out the theme. I’m especially excited to include a larger ensemble piece used as interludes throughout, much as I did with Merton’s Prayers on my first album.

I’m playing with a lot of new people, introducing our musical collaborations on each of my nights in my monthly residency at Pearl Wine Co. The next one is on November 9th (NEW TIME: 9-11pm) with Jenna McSwain on keys and Trey Boudreaux on bass.

GromkologoI often forget about my music biz work for other musicians soon after I provide it, but thank goodness they don’t! I’m excited to now be working for Al “Carnival Time” Johnson, Evan Christopher, author Jacob Mendelsohn, and a soon TBA Musicians’ Advocate.

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