tweeg.net

I’m back in New York after an exhausting summer teaching composition, musicianship, and computer musicianship at the Walden School. I had the great fortune to work with some especially talented young composers this year in each of my classes. I’m excited to see where these people will go in their lives and their careers.

Due to some last-minute changes my cello piece, the language of, was premiered by none other than Dave Eggar, my very favorite cellist. He played the hell out of it, and is incorporating it into his repertoire. Listen for it next at his show at the Stone on October 3rd.

I’m at work on some exciting projects. In the works are more just intonation string pieces, and a work for recorder and live electronics commissioned by Terri Hron. Glissando bin Laden and his Musichideen will be performing late October with all new material and our newest member, bass clarinetist Meighan Stoops. Check here frequently for performance dates and new recordings and scores.

I’m leaving today to start my six-week stint teaching at the Walden School, a summer program for young composers (aged 11 - 18). This will be my third summer at Walden, and I’m excited to teach my three classes this year, in composition, computer musicianship, and musicianship. It’s always a thrill to get down to some intense work with excited young people, and it usually serves as a good recharge to my compositional batteries.

I’m also excited to hear the premiere of my new solo cello piece, the language of on July 13th. It’s a strange piece for me, and I’m looking forward to hearing what it sounds like. the language of is written entirely for the natural harmonics of a standard tuned cello, and contains snippets of thrush song. Here’s a sneak peek:

Following my night of violin music on WKCR last week, I’ve put up a couple of recordings of some music for strings that I’m working on. As always, check out the music page for scores and recordings of both fresh and ripened pieces.

I’ve returned from the productive and inspiring two weeks I spent at the Atlantic Center for the Arts.

I’m hard at work at a large set of pieces for strings in just intonation. Ranging in size from solo to septet, this will be an evening-length work, although individual parts may be performed separately. A first draft of my piece for solo violin, Lullaby for Bodhi gives an idea of what the more melodic pieces might be like. In contrast to pieces like this, there will also be several pieces which use slow glissandi between complex (although harmonically related) chords.

On a related note, I’m also working on a just intonation tutorial for string players. Practical rather than theoretical, it is designed to lead uninitiated string players into the strange world of hearing and playing the harmonies of the harmonic series. If you’re interested in this kind of stuff, please check out my software, interval calculator.

I’m in Florida right now, as an artist-in-residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. There’s eight composers here working with Kyle Gann. It’s a blast to have the time and space to compose, and to get to know these other wonderful composers.

Check them out:

• Terri Hron
• Andrea LaRose
• MC Maguire
• Caroline Mallonee
• Maria Martin
• Matt McBane
• Scott Unrein

You can now hear some recordings by my band, Glissando bin Laden and his Musichideen on myspace. Please give a listen and let us know what you think.

Glissando bin Laden and his Musichideen is:

• P. Rust (Jim Altieri) - violin
• Leffe Blonde (Caroline Mallonee) - violin
• Glssando bin Laden (Alex Ness) - keyboard, vocals, cracklebox
• Mr. Glitch (Sam Pluta) - laptop, vocals

You can now listen online to Studio 360’s Valentine’s Day episode, featuring singer/songwriter Corey Dargel with me on the violin. Corey is talking about his Commission a Love Song project, and you can also enter on the Studio 360 website to win a custom love song.

Welcome to my new site! Take a look around, and let me know if (when) you have any problems. There’s a bunch of music (recordings and scores) to download, microtonal music software to try out, events of mine to check out, and past and current projects to read about. If you’re new here, you might be wondering who I am.

As for a news update, I’m living in New York, trying to compose and play as much as possible. I’m applying to grad school, so keep your fingers crossed for me. In February and March, I’ll be spending a couple weeks in Florida at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, studying with Kyle Gann.