On Friday, June 29th, chamber ensemble The Box is Empty will debut Hear No Noise - my new piece for chamber ensemble (flute, bass clarinet, viola, cello, bass), soprano and field recording at The Century Ballrom. The text comes from a collection of poems by 9th century Chinese hermit-monk Han Shan. Here's the text as translated by Red Pine:

Beneath high cliffs I live alone
swirling clouds swirl all day
inside my hut it might be dim
but in my mind  I hear no noise
I passed through a golden gate in a dream
my spirit returned when I crossed a stone bridge
I left behind what weighed me down
my dipper on a branch click clack

Hear No Noise begins with a field recording I made of the dawn chorus here in Seattle recently at a park. May is a really loud time of year for the birds as there are migratory birds drifting through, birds that are mating, and others that are establishing territory. So, there is a lush bed of sound that drifts up initially. The only bit of literal text painting, some drinking gourds will be rattled together at the beginning of the piece and at various places throughout. The rest of the work is slow moving canonical gestures of lush chords shifting gradually over time. The soprano dots the sonic landscape as the text rolls by, but while writing I tried to treat her part as a member of the ensemble, not as a soloist. It is my hope and intention that the piece drifts on effortlessly, though slowly, so that one's perception of time is distorted, and the work overall blending, coexisting, and responding to the field recording - drifting in and out of the sonic woodwork.

Within Chinese poems of this era there are often references and allusions to other poems. Occasionally these references serve as commentary, but more often they serve as a way to add color to the poet's ideas, credence to expression, and pay homage to the past while acknowledging that the moment and our very existence is in constant flux and motion. Hear No Noise - and much of my work - is very much in dialogue with these sentiments, and I hope that a scholar such as Han Shan would approve of my setting of his poem.

Details for the show can be found here, and a short excerpt can be heard below.

_There’s been a rash of east coast-west coast tension over the last couple of weeks on the tiny island that New Music exists on, with an unusual amount of humor tempering all the banter. This latest round of Montagues and Capulets-esque feuding started with a lively LA Times review of the wild Up performance at Beyond Baroque in L.A. that started with a bit of a jab at a certain handful of composers who reside in Brooklyn. Some of the composers in question seemed rather taken aback that someone would call into question their music - in fact the very foundation that they’ve tried build their ideals upon - and publicly decried the article as being in poor taste and wondering why there was so much hatred being directed at them. Following that there were the west-leaning Grammy nominations. Most recently, a new article in The New York Times seems intent on leaving out reams of music history, the vast majority of contemporary composers and New Music scenes in other cities in favor of promoting a small group of composers who live in New York. Though, perhaps it all boils down to press for some of us. New York’s press is international, whereas here in Seattle, which has an extraordinary music scene of all sorts, the press is mainly only read locally - and even the veracity of that statement is increasingly questionable as the reporting on music (all music, not just New Music) is minimal at best…and often only reports other reporting. Surely a broader picture would’ve been painted if only there were more people writing about the goings on outside of New York.

But I digress – luckily, humorous diversions abound these days to lighten the mood such as this wonderful new mechanism for generating program notes or grant proposals. There’s this cute video, and then there’s this remarkable collection of photographs documenting curious ideas new and old. Perhaps this humor will get us through to age 103, as Elliot Carter will do on Sunday. Happy Birthday Mr. Carter – your music was the first contemporary music I ever played when I was in high school – thanks for the continuing inspiration.