Tag: New Music

Performances 22-25 and Beyond! Mn State Band and Midwest

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I can’t believe that I’m wrapping up this journey of attending 25 concerts between May and December! It’s been an adventure and took some willpower at times to get it done. ( I love listening to live music and supporting colleagues, but sometimes the transition to get into the car is the hardert part. It’s always worth it though!)

The First Concert in this report was attended thanks to an impromtu invitation by my friend and fellow Brass quartet member Jason Wiley on December 15th. I had just learned of the performance that morning at rehearsal, when he mentioned that he’d be playing in it. The MN State band did not dissappoint, and played a plethora of holiday tunes. The Church choir and bell choir did a nice job too. My favorite part was the holiday medley singalong at the end.

The last 3 plus happened while I was at the Midwest Clinic. The entire 3 day conference is full of performances and rehearsals spanning several genres so I will talk about the top 3 that stood out to me the most.

On Wednesday I attended the Peabody Jazz Ensemble directed by Sean Jones.

These kids killed it at this concert! I was tapping my foot and dancing as reservedly as possible- although that was difficult in my cramped auditorium chair. They played some complicated charts to boot and were cookin’ the entire time. It brought me back to my old days in the Jazz band at YSU. Perhaps that is because Sean Jones happens to be an alum.

Earlier in the day I got to hear an Orchestral Reading Session of brand-new pieces. Although I was there to support my friend and Fellow CodaChrome Collective Member, Sakari Dixon-Vanderveer who had a piece selected for the reading, I was impressed at how well this orchestra, which is made up of teacher volunteers from around Chicago, read these brand-new pieces and presented them musically after maybe 1 rehearsal or less together.

On Thursday, I attended the Round Rock High School Sax Choir, as another Fellow Codachrome Collective member, Joseph Sowa, had a premiere of his brand new piece, Phoenix. These students blew my socks off! Kudos to them because this was also at 8:30 in the morning on the Last day of the party….er, I mean conference. They were playing college-level rep at an extremely high level and pulling it off with such musical nuance that I was engaged the entire time. My mind did not wander once. Joseph’s piece was executed with excitement, vigor, and flair, and was an appropriate finale for this group. I enjoyed it very much!

An honorable mention goes to the Rock Band that I witnessed on Thursday Morning in the Exhibit hall stage. While I was shocked to hear a Rock band at a Wind Band and Orchestra Convention, I was equally impressed with their execution of Classic Rock Hits by Sting, Stevie Wonder, and more. I just regret not getting their name so that I can tell all of you.

Thank you for sticking around through this journey if you made it this far. Next year, I will return to less frequent Blog posts as it takes quite a bit of mental bandwidth to keep up with this and all the other things I have going on in life. But…..If you like hearing from me and want to keep up with what I’ll be up to in the new year and all my projects, please consider subscribing to my newsletter.http://eepurl.com/ihiNNP

In the meantime, I hope I’ve inspired at least some of you to go hear and support your local musicians. Showing up makes them feel supported and like their hours put into the craft are worth something, and You always get the benefit of experiencing Live Music in real time too!

Performances 13, 14 & 15- At the MN state Fair 9/2/2023

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Ah, The Fair! A perfect place to pay money just to go spend lots more money and eat lots and lots of usually fried food on a stick. What a time!

It’s also a great place to hear a lot of music.

The first performance that I will mention is a Rock Band/ artist Colin BraceWell at the MPR booth. They mostly played originals ( except for one mellow, but well done cover of Little Red Corvette by Prince) and their music and sound reminded me of some of the music from the late 90’s and early 2000’s that was playing on the radio at the time.

Two things impressed me about their performance. First of all, The instrumentalist did not stick to just one dedicated instrument. The musicians switched it around for a few tunes. At one point, I believe the trumpet player was playing the bass. On a side note, I really enjoyed listening to the counter melodies that their trumpet player was playing.Perhaps I have not seen enough live bands, but from what I can tell, this is not always the case.

Secondly, a string on the lead singer’s Electric guitar broke mid-set and instead of letting it ruin the performance, they seamlessly transitioned to using the acoustic by connecting it to a pedal to give it an electric feel. Although you could tell this was not planned, the band concluded the remainder of their set seemingly unphased.

The Second performance I will talk about is by the Bands at the daily parade that happens at The Fair. This parade is massive and takes at least 45 minutes to complete. Several community and high school bands from around the state arrive just to perform in this spectical which has them dodging impatient people who look for a gap to cross the street to cow piles in 90 degree heat. I got to hear a variety of music from 1960’s-70’s marching band renditions of classic rock and folk, to steel drums and traditional DCI style drum lines.

Thirdly our day concluded upon a happenstance performance of the HMS Pinnafore by The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company. We did not intend to see this group. They just happened to be performing by the History building and I recognized the music from The Simpsons, so I got excited and made my S.O. watch with me.

This group did a fantastic job with the entire opera, but the hightlight was during a duet piece where this oblivious couple walked right through the stage while a duet was occurring.

The DEATH GLARE from the perofmers was Spectacular and I still say that that coupole DESERVED to be made part of the performance!

Overall, I had a great time at the Great Missesota Get together ( aka the great minnesota Eat together) and got to hear a lot of music too!

If you were there at anytime during the two weeks, , please leave a comment and tell me what your favorite performance was that you saw.

Performance 11 – Vanguard New Music Series –  A Musical Field Guide to Minnesota Wildflowers – Plumeria Winds and Reed⁵ (8/18/2023)

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I’m attending 25 Live Performances by the end of 2023!

Back in late May, I was invited by my Fellow Twin Cites colleague, Jonathan Postuma, to compose an original work for Woodwind Trio, OR Sextet. Being the overachiever I can sometimes be, I composed a piece for both Woodwind trios AND combined Sextet, which became Not a Flower Suite. Thanks to this invitation, I was able to witness this colorful smorgasbord of Woodwind Trios and Sextets proficiently played by Reed ^5 and Plumeria Winds.

As Jonathan was the primary composer, most of the program was arranged to include his newest Flower-themed pieces. He has been composing “A Musical Field Guide to Minnesota Wildflowers” for quite some time and the program had a rich bouquet of his works. The pieces were richly varied and luckily I had a pencil to write down some thoughts.

The first collection was Trio No. 5 for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon

“Forget Me not”- I love the conversations between the Oboe and Clrinet!

“Spring Beauty”-Playful but relaxing to listen to

“Virginia Bluebell”-Very different charachter than the last

“Virginia Waterleaf”- Those are some TASTY Bassoon lines!

The second collection was Trio No. 6 for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon

“Hoary Vervian”- It was fun watching the Clarinet and Oboe non-verbally taunte each other. 🙂

“Showy Goldenrod” and/ or ” Purple Coneflower” (I’m not sure which this comment went to) – This piece reminds me of Zelda Oracle of Seasons

“Fragrant Giant Hyssop”- GREAT eye contact betwen the Players

The third was Trio no. 9 for Oboe Soprano Saxophone and Bassoon

The pieces were ” Marsh Marigold”, “Carolina Puccoon”, “Swamp Buttercup”, and “Golden Alexanders”. According to my notes this suite was very Yellow and I would love to see a slideshow with all of the accompanying flowers in the background if it’s performed again, or see it published in a guide with QR codes leading to a recording of the accompanying piece.

The fourth suite was “Trio no. 11 for Oboe, Tenor Saxophone, and Bassoon.

I enjoyed the Stravinski-esque textures in these pieces as well as the expertly executed use of extended techniques by the performers.

Bravo Jonathan! I would love to see a slideshow with all of the accompanying flowers in the background if it’s performed again, or see it published in a guide with QR codes leading to a recording of the accompanying piece.

My piece was Number 5. I felt that my piece was overall performed well and both trios seemed to be having fun, which is a win in my book.

Jared Coffin’s piece, Pulling up Dinosaurs, was next and made use of the type of extended techniques that reminded me of geysers slowly bubbling underneath the surface of the earth with their gas seeping out of the ground before a massive explosion. The piece was called Pulling up Dinosaurs and sounded just like a scene from Jurrassic Park to my ears. Jared did a fantastic job creating an atmosphere to be experienced and transporting us out of the concert hall.

The concert ended with thie GORGEOUS piece composed by Elizabeth King that combined the trios into a sextet. Emily’s beautiful melodies brought the hues of emerald green into my mind’s eye and reminded me of walking through an enchanted forest. This piece was Beautiful and the blend of the performers made it even more so!

Plumeria Winds includes Rachel Messing- oboe, Caitlin Beare- clarinet, and Scott Pool- bassoon.

Reed^5 includes Susan Miranda- oboe, Brian Handeland-saxophone, and Cody Hunter-bassoon.

Performance 2 – Lady Band ( 6/3/2023)

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I’m attending 25 performances by the end of 2023!

The Second Performance that I attended was because I had the privilege of performing in the Stravinsky Octet with this newly formed group, Lady Band.

However, as the rules are that the majority of the performance had to be given by someone else, I will count this.

This Concert was unique and rather intimate, as we were packed into Violet Wine Winery. Despite feeling a bit overwhelmed due to the tiny space and crowding from people, I soon felt more at ease as the first notes were played by the mini chamber ensembles in this group. Although I did not partake, the winery had wines and vodka paired with each of the pieces which added to the ambiance.

The First piece was a Woodwind Quintet titled Composition en Rouge, Bleu et Jaune by Tawnie Olson. This piece Transported me to a blue city scape and played with . I especially enjoyed the Timbre of all of the voices in unision rhythm toward the ending, as well as the playful, bouncy motif that occured a few times in the piece. The musicians appeared to be enjoying those moments as well.

The Second Piece, N.A.L.A. by Andrea Tarodi was my favorite of the program. The beginning especially reminded me of Gustav Holst’s The Planets with the harp and flute colors. The ostinato reminded me of Saturn, while the timbres and melodies were remeniscant of Neptune and Venus in my opinion. It was played Beautifully as well ! This piece soothed me from the claustrophobia I was beginning to experience just in time to perform the octet.

Overall, it was a nice concert, and the intimacy and atmosphere of the winery added to the experience, but I was definitely glad to be out of that cramped space!

2023- Let’s DO THE THING!

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Happy 2023!

This is the post where, every year, I usually list the goals that I intend to accomplish.

What am I doing to make things happen this year?

Well, I’m taking the lessons learned from the past few years and instead of posting goals like I have been, I am instead posting the actions that I am building into my daily and weekly routine to make things happen.

If you read the post from a few days ago, it was apparent that some of the goals that I intended to accomplish did not happen as planned. Instead, I am taking a new approach to accomplish the goals that were left, AND set myself up for even more success in the future, in whatever form it may come. Some things are going well, and I will continue to keep up the habits I’ve already established.

Action Item #1

Schedule Composing, Instrumental Practice, Gym, Meal, and Email time into my calendar at SPECIFIC BLOCKS OF TIME.

Sunday evening at 7:00 is when I have scheduled to plan out the week. My phone is programed to remind me to do this.

Every month, I have a concrete checklist of music business Items that I have to schedule on my monthly calendar before transfering to my weekly. These include things like writing the newsletter for my composing business, checking on contest info for students, and other specific communications and research items.

The 28th of the previous month is when I have scheduled to take care of this. However, getting into the habit of writing down monthly appointments into my calendar as they come up has helped with planning in the past.

Some of these are floating tasks that have to get done at some time on the scheduled day or week. Having a visual checklist helps me with this!

Action Item # 2

Replace Phone Screen time with the activities listed above.

Although the Tik Tok and Twitter addiction has been hard to break, I’ve been improving at using it as a reward rather than disassociating with it.

Also, my new rule is No Checking Email past 7:00pm! Otherwise, I have a tendancy to overthink about how to respond and agonize about it all night instead of sleeping, which I totally should do instead for health reasons.

Action Item # 3

Adopt a CONSISTANT bedtime and wakeup routine.

Although I do the expected things like showering and brushing my teeth every day at.. some haphazard time, my morning has only had one thing consistent up until now: Coffee. I do not wish to replace this wonderful to me beverage I lovingly call Godberry juice, as I genuinely enjoy the taste and it’s become a personal staple for waking up. However, every day has been varied and sometimes I forget to eat breakfast or shower and all of a sudden it’s 15 minutes until I’m supposed to leave to teach and I haven’t eaten lunch yet.

To start with, I will begin my day with showering, teeth brushing and a glass of water BEFORE Coffe. Coffee is a reward for taking care of these important things. Also, my second cup of coffee will be accompanying breakfast, which will not only save time but serve as a habitual reminder to eat.

At night, I’ve been winding down with Tea over the last month which has helped. I will also be replacing the phone habit with reading on time. Lately, I’ve been switching between the two. Leaving the phone downstairs has helped. Soon, I will NOT be looking at my phone past 9:00 and instead be reading physical books.

Action Item # 4

Add my original compositions 1 piece a day to my WOOCOMMERCE Store. ( 10 minutes/ morning) to start.

For now I will leave my stuff up on Sheet music Plus as well for a wider reach, as I’m still working to build an audience that will purchase my music and play it more often, funding my good habit 🙂 I am, however, changing each compositions individual page to link to my Woo Commerce Store Page, in order to get a better idea of who is buying my compositions, keep in contact in case they would like help from a living composer, and the added bonus of getting to keep more of the profit.

I’m starting with Digital downloads and then will add physical copy offerings as I learn more about how to run the storefront. It looks like it will also calculate shipping, even overseas, so that is a plus.

I also have it scheduled to publish on both my Facebook Business page and Twitter Profile when I add a new piece to the store for some added awareness.

Once I run out of pieces I’ve already added to SMP, this will shorten to 1/week or every other week as needed. Engraving and editing takes time.

Action Item #5

Form a habit of Posting 1x/day, focusing on no more than 2 social media channels at a time.

In order to succeed at this, I am going to post one time/ day on one of my channels as most of them are linked anyway. When applicable , I will repeat the post in a different format- i.e. Text converded to a 30 second Video.

(Note- I will be exercising Action Item # 2 to keep screentime from getting out of hand again).

Action Item # 6

Hold myself accountable for these items!

If you know me well enough, please don’t be afraid to ask how it’s going either. Let’s put that toxic guilt complex to good use!!!! lol

Realistically, integrating all of these steps won’t happen all at once or even ALL of the time. However, as I work on making this my new norm, it will be easier to get back on the wagon when I fall off, and continue making things happen this year and beyond.

I’ll start by scheculing checkin posts on my calendar.

2022 Music, and Life, Goals.

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The last few years I have been psting my goals for the coming year in order to look back at periodically and hold myself accountable. Here is this years list of goals in their respective catagories.

Composing

FINISH the projects from last year that were started.

  1. ) Enter Spirit- Flex band score. I am currently working with a band director to have it read and finish the graphic score element. This should be ready for the public by May if all goes according to plan.

2) Painless Parker- Band Score. I need a few volunteers to read the piece and give feedback for the final score. I aim to have it available for purchase asap.

3) Continue my editing of past works. – I got a litle more than halfway through, and then I lost my productivity streak. By the end of the year I aim to be finished with all prior pieces. It will help that I’ve gotten better at engraving for anythihg that I write this year, so lots of time will be saved!

4) Documentary Score- Almost finished. It was postponed due to covid and a big life transition for the director. I just need to touch base with the director a few more times to get this done.

5) Vocal and Instrumental piece with a Librettist- I started this one with them as a new type of collaboration for me. Most of the Ideas are in the germ phase, but this will get done by the end of this year at the latest.

Sell at least 1 score a month

I will be ramping up advertising on Facebook as well as taking the initiative to contact more musicians and directors directly. I’ll also be adding lots more pieces and arrangements to My website store and on Sheet Music Plus.

Start Making some Money from Composing

Eventually, I’d like this to make up the bulk of my livelihood along with performing and teaching. Luckily it’s looking like at least one paid commission is shaping up with a fantastic Trombonist.

I can’t wait to share more of these details with you in the coming months.

My one Resolution- normally I don’t do these but I’ll make an exception in this case- is to Share more of what I am working on. Please follow me on Instagram or TikTok @shogan_composer to see more of my process this year.

Lesson Studio Goals

Build studio up to 30 students.

Have at least 2 big recitals this year ( With at least one being in person, Covid Pending), and generally find more performance opportunities for my students.

Host A Quarterly Studio GET-TOGETHER via Zoom with Games and playing opportunities for peers only.

Have more students participate in MMTA contests and festivals.

Increase educational content on the studio YOUTUBE channel. (sorry, as of now this is for MY STUDENTs only, although I may make some of the videos public eventually). Every other Friday, I plan on recording a short video and UPLOADINg it.

Continue to become a better teacher for my students.

Musicianship Goals

Play an EtudE Every Practice session

I’m starting with the good Ol’ Rochut book 1 and will work my way through the book one etude at a time. When I’m done, I’ll look for a new book to progress to. It is my hope that I will become a better player by making this commitment to my practice routine. It should also help me……

Improve my sightreading on both Piano and Trombone

Establish a functional practice routine and schedule a time to practice every weekday.

Life and Relationship Building

Continue to improve my health and stregnth.

I started this last year in 2021 and began strength training with Barbells as of June.If I can keep with the schedule of 3-4 days of stregnth training and eat well, I’ll be well on my personal goal to be able to squat my body weight by June as well as do 1 unassisted pullup by then. Maybe I’ll even surpass it! Although My goals here are not asthetic, I am looking forward to see how things change here as the year progresses. The reason for this is that it helps my mental health quite a bit and I’d like to remain as healthy as I can to do thie things that I love- Mainly Make Music! Also, as I am now in the dirty 30’s, I’d like to not be complaining about back problems like so many of my peers are already.

Continue to Volunteer at leAst 4 times a year

I am excited to see what opportunities 2022 brings, especially with MMTA. Assuming things keep opening back up, I’d also love to have a recital or perform at a nursing home.

Plan monthly phone calls and emails, Aim for 1 New person per month to start with in this list.

This may be a lofty goal, since being extraverted in this capacity takes quite a bit of uncomfortable effort on my end, but I’m going to try by listing a set day on my planner calendar to do this. It wil be at the end of the month too so I have that long to come up with someone.

Support fellow artists through Album/ music PURCHASES and RECOMMENDATIONS, and email them with compliments.

Attend at least 3 newtorking events or festivals.

Next Month, I’ll be attending Brass Chix as I have every year, and in March, the MMTA convention is in Minneapolis, so I’ll be attending at least 1 day of this as well.

2021 Goals- How did I do?

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It’s that time of year- The end of the year where I give you my report card and evaluate the goals that I set at the end of the previous year.

Here is what happened:

BIG GOAL: Make More Money/ Be able to solely do MUSIC to survive.

Update: Success! I am surviving. As of June, I was able to just teach and complete an engraving project to make the minimum that I neded to bring in to justify being my own boss. Next year I will set my goals toward Thriving… and then some.

Mini Goal: Sell 10 scores of my own music. My goal is a minimum of 25 total including arrangements.

Update: I sold 12 total. Yeehaw. It looks like I’ll have to evaluate and revise my strategy.

Mini Goal: 15 students by June

Update: I have since surpassed that goal and am up to 20 students!

BIG GOAL: Get to know more people

Update: I didn’t meet as many new people in person as I was hoping to ( thanks Covid) but did meet some. I talked to Alex Gardner and Matthew Driscol via the magic of zoom and meet a few local musicians and composers through a Monthly Composer Meet up and throught the Z festival, both of which met online. I’d really like to actually get to know more people this next year beyond briefly meeting them.

If you count it though, I did get to meet some awesome new students and their wonderful families 🙂

Mini Goal: Contact 2 new people in music/ month minimum

Update: This fell by the wayside but I did manage to average 1-2 every other month. Next year I will schedule monthly phone calls and emails in my planner.

Big Goal: Write 3 hours minimum of music

Update: If you count all of the unrecorded improvising I did, I ….probably?… reached this goal. However, my composing focus was nonexistant most of this year and getting things written down just did not happen.

Mini Goal:Create more creative opportunities

Update: I did it- but via a different avenue that I set out to follow. I am now part of a trombone trio called The Trifore Trombone Trio and got to exercise my creativity by making marketing content for the Twin Cities Brass Band. I also participated in Z-Fest this summer which provided some interesting ppportunities as well.

Big Goal: Be even more giving and spread more JOY

Mini Goal: Send more notes in the form of cards and emails

Update: Success. I’ll keep this goal active for next year too.

Mini goal: volunteer my time in a musical capacity at least 4 times

Update: This happened exactly 4 times. I volunteered at an MMTA event this Fall, helped out with a large music sorting project, and helped a few friends with their musical projects a few times this year. Next year, I hope to help out at more events because helping is fun. 🙂

Throwback Thursday September 2021 Recap

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September 2nd 2021

This Week’s #throwbackthursday piece is related to the event I’ve been excited about that is happening this weekend: MNKINO Film Score Fest!(BTW- It’s this Saturday at 8 In Mears Park, St Paul MN if you can come).A few years ago, in 2017, I wandered to an event that I had heard about on a podcast called Composer Quest called the MnKino Film Score Fest Meetup. It was at an underground bar in the middle of Minneapolis- or was it St Paul? As is tradition for me with trying new things, I had no idea what I was getting into. Also, meeting new people in groups still terrified the bejeebus out of me, but there I went. At the time, I was starving for creative opportunities outside of my mundane day job and, although it scared me, I reasoned that the best way to make this happen was to step out of that comfort zone and talk to strangers. Somewhere in the large crowd a, talented yet also introverted and kind animator named Beth Peloff talked to me and decided that I was going to be her composer (YAY!).Together, we created a little film called Blob’s Adventure. You can watch it here:https://vimeo.com/218081763

September 9th 2021

Do You remember looking up at the sky on a carefree summer day, imagining the pictures and scenes in the clouds? Today’s #ThrowbackThursday piece was written on such a summer afternoon. When I used to work at a printer factory, I’d come home and need to decompress. Being that the job left little time for much else between driving home, eating dinner, and sleeping to wake up early and do it all over again, there was a 30-minute window that I’d have to myself. I chose to walk from my Dad’s trailer home to the end of the road and back most evenings after scarfing down my meal. That day in 2010, I admired those picturesque clouds in the sky and imagined what it could sound like. At the time I was listening to a lot of Debussy piano music as well. Cumulus Humilis- The scientific name for the type of clouds that I saw that day- is the name of this piece. It was premiered by Jimmy Knezetik- a pianist I knew in undergrad who has the most sensitive touch of any pianist I’ve known. Listeners enjoyed it because it is easy on the ears and my theory teachers loved it because it uses something called Locrian Mode. (Note- I did not do this on purpose. It was a happy coincidence). A few years after composing the piece, Avguste Antonov recorded the piece and did a wonderful job. It is included on his debut album, An American Journey.https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/…/cumulus…/21854853…#pianomusic#newmusic#solomusic

September 16th 2021

In 2009, around this time, I started my undergrad degree at Youngstown State in Ohio. At the time, I had just met my – unbeknownst to me- future husband. He took me to one of Youngstown’s greatest hidden treasures, Mill Creek Park, as part of a tour of the area. We walked around on this adventure for a while when a rather large tree branch suddenly snapped, and almost beamed us in the head on the way down from the fall. Me being me, blamed it on the trickster Faeries that obviously got a laugh at almost killing this intruder, .and yelled something unintelligible back at them. Darko laughed, I laughed, and this whole near-death experience is now immortalized in a Trombone and Euphonium duet. Today’s #ThrowbackThursday piece is dedicated to these Wood Nymphs who happened to give me the inspiration to finish the duet I was writing for fellow composer Dan Brandt and I, just in time to not get scolded by our studio professor. #Brass#BrassDuet#Trombone#Euphonium#WomanComposer#NewMusichttps://www.sheetmusicplus.com/…/meliae…/21816732…

September 23rd 2021

Who Likes Thunderstorms???…….. Actually, not me. In fact, I sometimes find them terrifying! This week, we had a fairly loud one that kept me up quite late. The loud sound of the thunder hurts my ears and seeing a Lightning strike victim in the ER when I was little because my mom used to work nights and sometimes had to take us with to her job, may have contributed to this uncomfortableness. Thank goodness though. MN needed the rain. That brings me to this week’s #ThrowbackThursday piece.https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/…/reign-of…/21833455…Reign of Thunder is a flute solo and one of my first pieces that premiered at YSU. However, it was written it in the summer before starting my studies Shanyse Strickland , a Fantastic Musician known for her Horn playing and Composing these days, was the Flute Player! Cory Davis did a wonderful job accompanying on piano and I took his suggestion to double the octave in the left hand, thus improving the piece. #Flute#Flutesolo#piano#womancomposer#newmusic

Throwback Thursday August 2021 Recap

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Hello Music friends and fans,

If you’ve been on Facebook page at all you may have noticed that I’ve been posting memories associated with the pieces I’ve written or arranged over the years on Thursdays. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them just as much as I have writing them.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about how to add more content here and how to prompt myself to write more, as creativity begets creativity in a lot of cases. At the endo of the month- or the beginning of the next month, I’ll be copying those posts from Facebook and archiving them as blog posts.

August 12th 2021

It’s #ThrowbackThursday! YAY!- So I will be resharing an old memory and a piece attached to it.This past week’s new moon had me thinking bout this piece.https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/…/lunar…/21815638…I wrote Lunar Tides while I was thinking about my grandpa and how he made sure I got piano lessons when I was a kid after I was figuring out my younger brother’s lesson songs and movie songs by ear. It is because of him (and my piano instructor 🙂 ) that I was eventually able to articulate the music that I was hearing in my head and start the journey to becoming a Composer. Lunar Tides was written under the moon and the underlying broken chord accompaniment flows, much like water. A friend and fellow composer, Carol Ann Smolka once called it “spa music”, which made me chuckle, but I must say the description fits! Give it a listen and you’ll hear what she meant. #newmusic#vocalmusic#solomusic#composer

August 19th 2021

Aah, August: The perfect time to walk into a store and see all of the……Halloween Decorations?!? Not that I necessarily mind of course 🙂This #ThrowbackThursday had me thinking about my favorite holiday and how it was the only time I was allowed out after dark as a kid and could dress up as one of the creatures of my imagination. It was also the time that Mr. Adams, my Elementary Music Teacher would break out the Halloween music and I’d delight in singing the songs that sounded nothing like the cheerful happy songs we sang the rest of the year. Have you seen the Ghost of Tom/ John? My Old Black Cat and You Better Watch Out! are the ones I still sing, sometimes in August, to this day. One year he had a whole assembly/ party where the entire elementary school showed up in costume and sang Halloween songs together. I was a sleepy soccer player ( I wore soccer pj’s and carried around a soccer-ball-shaped pillow- being inventive with cheap to make costumes was something I had fun with), but I specifically remember someone dressed up as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz completely with a metal garbage can body and full metallic makeup.Anyway, enough rambling.Here is the piece/ arrangement that is associated with this memory. Please enjoy, or purchase for your own Halloween-related #Brass shenanigans!https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/…/this-is…/21874496…

August 26th 2021

Happy Thursday Friends and Music Fans,Today’s #throwbackthursday piece brings back memories. When I needed an escape growing up, my way of dealing with emotions like fear anger, and sadness, and needing to feel protected was to find an instrument, usually a piano but in this case a PINK guitar, and just improvise. To this day, I still don’t understand exactly what I am doing on the guitar beyond the names of the basic chords, though maybe someday I’ll take lessons. 🙂Anyway, this was created with a vamp of 2 chords that I would play, and I’d imagine a jam over it.Fast forward to the end of college where I was asked to provide music for a game, but that is a different memory for another day.🙂 Using Finale, I created an ending theme using this vamp and the jam I heard in my head for all of those years. Although the notation is atrocious, the sonic result is delightful and sounds pretty close to my imagination.https://samanthahogan-composer.bandcamp.com/…/mellow…

ZFestival- a July 2021Adventure!

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This past month I participated in the first Composition Festival I have in a long time- ZFestival.

I first heard about ZFestival from a fellow Twin Cities Based Composer, Johnathan Posthuma. When I first applied to participate, as per usual fashion for me, I HAD LITERALLY NO IDEA WHAT I WAS GETTING MYSELF INTO! That was on purpose. 🙂

So what is this festival you ask? ZFestival is an online month long festival where they pair you with artists, composers and musicians from all over the world ( but mostly North America) and tell you to go create something.

They also have workshops and talks with guest artists and It’s all online. That’s right. I didn’t even have to leave my house or wear pants to participate in this event. ( I mean, I did wear pants except for that one time I wore a skirt. It’s just that it wasn’t required.)

Also, unbelievably, it’s FREE to participate.

They had 3 tracks this year for composers to participate in. The one I was chosen for was a multidisciplinary track.

The group consisted of Clarissa Littler, Timothy Leimu Sillman Walters, Tyler Katz, and Myself. So, a group of composers, multi instrumentalists, an amatur watercolor artist , and a computer programmer (Their instrument was listed as Math) who may or may not have doubled on these skills with prior knowledge that that was what they were going to do.

To create the project, we decided to trade pieces and record and engineer them from our own homes. A lot of Trial and Error on my end was had.

The final Gala Took place on July 31st and August 1st 2021. It was amazing to see what all of these groups came up with and celebrate their creativity. Our Project, which resembles a Prog Rock Space Opera with improvised live visual programming , was on August 1st and is the second one on the program.

As a BONUS and for your viewing pleasure, please watch the product of the 48 Hour Challenge I did with Tim, along with the rest of the projects. The prompt was…interesting to say the least. XD

You can learn more about ZFestival by visiting zfestival.org