Henning's Headquarters

[Karl Henning]

Is it coincidence, do you suppose, that I am at last reading Allen Shawn's Arnold Schoenberg's Journey while having resumed work on this movement?...

[Cato]

Is it coincidence, do you suppose, that I am at last reading Allen Shawn's Arnold Schoenberg's Journey while having resumed work on this movement?...

With Art, all things can lead to creation.

[Karl Henning]

True, indeed!

[Karl Henning]

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

   
• Work with the office of student services to coordinate Large Ensemble Entrance auditions during Orientation. Collaborate with faculty, chairs and librarian to collect and disseminate audition repertoire.
• Process class lists for the Registrar's office. Insure that all ensemble students are registered, and for the proper course numbers associated with their programs.
• Track the castings in the Personnel document, and notify casting chairs of assignment imbalances. T his is to help balance out the amount of time spent in rehearsals and performances of individual players.
• Maintain the attendance document; including processing excused absences such as recitals, auditions, doctor's notes, family emergencies, etc.
• Coordinate assignments for large ensembles via casting chairs.
• Collect absence and tardies from all student attendance takers. Record all absences and tardies in the master spreadsheet and send out weekly emails to students alerting them of their absences and tardies. Particularly important is the noticing of trends that might jeopardize a student's grade significantly, and making sure the administration is aware so action can be taken.
• Oversee all attendance issues with Large ensemble, including keeping track of, approving/denying, and processing any large ensemble absences and excuse verifications.
• Notify necessary students of mid-term grade warnings.
• Send excused absences to all faculty/staff for evening or unusual ensemble rehearsals and performances.
• Collaborate with Concert Services to insure that all rehearsal schedules are properly registered in scheduling system (25Live). Coordinate any rehearsal or venue changes across multiple platforms.
• Hire and create contracts for ensemble ringers, as needed.
• Coordinate ringer auditions, mid-year auditions, and other auditions as necessary.
• Assist in maintaining the Large Ensemble bulletin board, a s well as the online notice board for ensembles. (process and post updated casting lists, and ensemble schedules, as needed).
• Coordinate grading with conductors. Prepare sheets, enter grades and distribute to students.comment
• Keep detailed track of all ringer finances, noting personnel or financial trends.
• Communicate with conductors to schedule following year scheduling and programming.
• Collaborate with Instrument Librarian to compile a list of instrument quotes for Capital Budget requests. Liaise with faculty to determine order of need.
• Update The Boston Conservatory's Large Ensemble webpages.
• Formatting and editing documents such as Large Ensemble handbook, ensemble syllabi, etc.
• Maintain regularly updated presence of the music division through social media.
• Use Microsoft Word and Excel to create various documents, including casting sheets, schedules, information signs, attendance tracking and contracts.
• Compile monthly "opportunity updates" for division wide distribution for all registered students.
• Act as a liaison between students, ringers, faculty, guest conductors and administration. This is especially important in order to maintain good morale and requires knowing the instrumental music students and faculty, and communicating with them regularly.
• Compile program information for all large ensemble concerts in coordination with conductors, music assistants and marketing.
• Review "This Week at the Conservatory", the weekly event listing.
• Filing, mailing, and special projects such as event planning, as well as aid with guest artists.
• Use photocopy machines as needed.
• Assist the Associate Director with Extension programs
• Assist Conductors as needed, as time will allow.
• Other duties as assigned.

That last reads a bit like a sarcasm, doesn't it?

[Wanderer]

Quoting from the Bruckner thread:

Well, if I do write a [first] symphony, it is apt to be in my 50s (I have sketches from earlier, but ... may not trouble to use them).  If I do start it though (pace Kodály) I shan't wait until 79 to finish it.

Or maybe you could pull a Brahms and write a piano concerto first. 

[Karl Henning]

Oh, happy to try that, indeed.

[Cato]

That last reads a bit like a sarcasm, doesn't it?

"So, are you thinking of applying?" 

Out of the many idiocies in that litany:

"Particularly important is the noticing of trends that might jeopardize a student's grade significantly, and making sure the administration is aware so action can be taken."

Better: "Particularly important is to notice trends that..."

What sort of "trends" could be involved?  The "trend" of being lazy?    Or the "trend" of being mentally bombed? 

And why would the student and/or the professors not notice it first?  0:) 

And I assume the "action" to be taken is known as "expulsion" ? 

And then there is the preciosity of "liaise" which its university users might be surprised to know is a slang term from the British military.    How dé·clas·sé!  How pâté de foie gras !   

[Scion7]

The "needs something" -  two solo verses for child-soprano!

[Karl Henning]

Today, organist David Bohn (who will play the Beach Balls on 17 Aug) asked after the organ adaptation of Lutosławski's Lullaby.  I had to dig into old folders of Finale files, where I found that effort of 1998, and where I found that not only did it require a couple of further idiomatic adjustments, but that I wanted to add a little more pedal activity.

[Karl Henning]

I think he will not mind if I post the score here for our select band:

And here is May's performance of Charles Turner's Three Wordless Choruses:

http://www.youtube.com/v/M_Etzvr7MHQ

[Karl Henning]

Okay, it's official:  this Sunday Paul & I will play the Op.77 Canzona & Gigue at St Aidan's, an Episcopal resort chapel    in or near the tonier region of Rhode Island.

[Cato]

Okay, it's official:  this Sunday Paul & I will play the Op.77 Canzona & Gigue at St Aidan's, an Episcopal resort chapel    in or near the tonier region of Rhode Island.

Yay Team!  Get a BIG hat to pass around!  0:)

[Karl Henning]

Last year, we got a beach house token and a half-empty vial of sunscreen.

[Cato]

Last year, we got a beach house token and a half-empty vial of sunscreen.

Well, maybe the lease on the Lamborghini was due!   

[Karl Henning]

Good Triad Repertory Committee meeting last night; we are close to having the program settled.  That is, all the pieces are good (well, there's one I'm not crazy about, but that single anomaly ain't bad) . . . quite a few of them are rather a challenge – and one of our 'post-mortem' take-aways from the last concert was, it was a bear.  So this morning, I wrote to the committee to say, Good program! If we are still concerned about the technical demands, what if we swap in Ottevanger's The Lamb for one of the gnarlier pieces?  This has the additional benefit of being accompanied, and thus giving Thomas some more employment.

This being a collective . . . we shall see what the consensus becomes.

[Karl Henning]

So, what did I do (at long last)?

Since in m.341 we snuck into a return to the "haunting Sarabande," at [ S ] we hear an adaptation of the Vigoroso passage at [ H ], inverted, overall a bit wilder of pitch content, and all 10 players, so while it is a "return" of sorts, it is also somewhat restively chaotic.


[ T ] is a gigue-like adaptation of the [ B ] material, and (I think) fairly true to the pitch of the original passage.  Practically everything from here to the end is an echo/version of earlier material.

Tonight, rehearsal!  Our first reading of The Young Lady, all-hands, in Cambridge.  I may bring my Micro Track just for fun.

[Karl Henning]

Tonight, rehearsal!  Our first reading of The Young Lady, all-hands, in Cambridge.  I may bring my Micro Track just for fun.

I did not bring the gear.  The process of the reading/rehearsal went splendidly.  It was the first time we eleven all worked together, and most of the work was under-tempo (so, in the back of my mind, I suppose, I reckoned on there not being much point in recording).  I started by targeting various sections, with the aim of then playing straight through from [ C ] to [ K ] ... when we had done, though, I still had ample time.  So we started at the top; and with only one restart where a beat's discrepancy had somehow crept in, we actually made it (under-tempo for the most part, mind) through the entire piece.  I think that we succeeded in the goal of The Young Lady winning hearts, as well.  No idea just when the next rehearsal is.

I see Carol this evening, so I hope to have a report from their side, as well.

[Karl Henning]

Carol affirms that the response among the group is overwhelmingly positive.  In a message that came late yesterday afternoon, one topic was the matter of being paid for the piece (which was, in fact, part of the initial communication last year). The opportunity to be paid for my composition arises so seldom, that out of sheer curiosity I had a look at Meet the Composer's published guidelines for commissioning music.  The suggested range there for a chamber work for 5-10 players, the piece's duration of 10-25', is $7,500-23,000.

Of course, I do not know Kammerwerke's budget, but I will speculate that nothing on that order is at all practical.  The exercise was only a pipedream for me, really:  if I could find ensembles who could afford to commission my work like that, at my present pace of producing new music, I could quit my day job, and I'd be able to afford my own home 

[Cato]

The suggested range there for a chamber work for 5-10 players, the piece's duration of 10-25', is $7,500-23,000.

Of course, I do not know Kammerwerke's budget, but I will speculate that nothing on that order is at all practical.  The exercise was only a pipedream for me, really:  if I could find ensembles who could afford to commission my work like that, at my present pace of producing new music, I could quit my day job, and I'd be able to afford my own home 

That sounds great!    Let's make it a trend! 0:)

[Karl Henning]

EmmaLee Holmes Hicks, the violinist for whom I wrote Plotting, is a member of Verdant Vibes in Providence. They have a call for scores, and happily, EmmaLee invited me to a Facebook event ... so that Facebook reminded me that the event (i.e., the deadline) is tomorrow.  Back when I was first invited, I was sure I wanted to submit something ... naturally, between the King's Chapel event in June, and yesterday's follow-up (which was great fun), I had completely forgotten about Verdant Vibes. Until Facebook reminded me.

The latest (last?) piece I wrote for The 9^th Ear — I half-wonder if the recent-ish attempt at a 9^th Ear event may prove the group's last gasp — is what I felt I wanted to submit (re-scored to suit their instrumentation) to Verdant Vibes, so I spent the morning adapting the second guitar part for marimba.

Then, when I went to submit the piece online, I found that I could submit three pieces (and that they wanted, if possible, streamable music examples), so:

http://www.youtube.com/v/k4VCNgu6HjY

http://www.youtube.com/v/DjiHX4Xh0u0