Lots of roadwork in the next couple of weeks: tomorrow I head back to the Outer Banks for the conclusion of our summer arts festival. We’ll have multimedia performances by the
Open Dream Ensemble, a few evenings of dance with live percussion music by Xenakis and Chavez, and even a silent film festival with improvised accompaniment.
Then on August 4 I head to Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos. More about that when I return on August 9.
This afternoon I’m hosting a birthday party for a one-year-old, with guests ranging in age from 10 to 29 months. Then at 5:00 I’ll be sitting in the owner’s box at a Durham Bulls game, listening to a friend play the national anthem on solo trombone.
Sometimes I feel like I’m eating from a plate that is six times the size of my head.
The composing is going at high speed: I’ve completed the second draft of the first two movements of my symphony. The third and last movement is sketched, but I’m going to wait until I get the first two almost finished before going any further on the third. I’m also working on a woodwind quintet, a solo violin piece and a quartet I’ve mentioned before for soprano, horn, guitar and narrator. A lot to finish by Labor Day, but you never get anywhere if you don’t aim high.
In the meantime, I’ve found my doppelganger: Scotland’s
Laurence Dillon, aka the Fabulous Nobody.