Aviation music

I've been awarded a commission by the Hiller Aviation Museum, to write a flute quartet (2 C flutes, alto flute, and bass flute) to be premiered at their upcoming fundraising gala on October 8. The three other flutists (I'll be playing one of the parts) have been signed up and I'm working on the piece, which will be called Remove Before Flight. There will be a slow movement called "The Breeze" and a fast movement called "Takeoff". The American Composers Forum has awarded me a Community Partners grant for this piece.

In other news I heard a set at the Luggage Store Gallery last night by Forms of Things Unknown, the chief architect of which is my friend Ferrara Brain Pan. I like his ambient improvs. The first one was my favorite, with its drones, feedback, bells, percussion, and brooding bass clarinet melodies. It was fun how the traffic sounds and even a siren on Market Street blended beautifully with the music.

Tonight I'm going to the International Festival of Digital Arts in Berkeley where Ronnie Cramer has two short films on the program. Ronnie was in the Droneshift with me back in March. I like his live album, Juno. It's very meditative, asteroidy and atmospheric. I like how it says what it has to say, and then moves on; that doesn't always happen in ambient music.