more on Musica delle Donne

Wow. I'm on a roll today! I guess I have a lot to talk about, and not enough people to talk about it to? Ha! Well, I wrote the previous post on *Musica delle Donne* the next morning before I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. So now that I have some time to breathe today, there's no stopping me.

This was the third year where I've had something performed at this concert series. This is also my third year as a composition student. So, it's been great having pieces performed. Probably easier to get things performed as a college student, so I'm glad I've had the opportunity.

The third movement (wow, thirds are the theme here....) of my trio, Constancy, was performed by three wonderful musicians. There were some mishaps, but with the very short time this was put together, this was expected. Especially since one wrong note in the third movement can easily throw everything off. I also was not able to attend a rehearsal, so this performance was all a surprise for me. But in the end, a good surprise.

As said earlier, I don't really remember much of the performance. I sat in my seat all nervous and tense the entire time. (Can I also mention that I hate standing up to bow? Yeah, I do.) It was fun to hear what other people thought of it. People asked if I was influenced or listening to J.Adams, P.Glass, S.Reich, and even some Copeland. I didn't respond because I was more intrigued and surprised to hear other people's thoughts. In actuality, I rarely listen to the works of those composers.... I know, I'm bad. As I recall, I think I was listening to a lot of Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Interpol. Not much of that went into the piece, but now I wonder how much I was influenced by it. But, there was one section that I paid hommage to Interpol. My husband was the only person who heard the Interpol influence, and I was very, very, very proud of him. A gentleman who attended the concert asked me if I was writing anything at the moment. I am not, but then I got all excited about what the next project would be. hmmmm....

A student almuna composer, *Jessica Rugani*, had her piece, "When My Sorrow was Born" performed. I enjoyed this piece, and thought that it was quite different from the other pieces I've heard from her. Although, I haven't heard all of her pieces, so I don't take my word for it. But I think the special thing about this piece was that to me, it was grounded and solid.

A piano piece by Chen Yi was performed. I did not really get the piece. Or maybe I just wasn't in to it as much. B didn't get it either. Sometimes when you walk away from a piece like that and it's sad that it can easily be forgettable.

The other piece that stuck out for me was the Mary-Lou Williams piece. I think it also stuck out in my mind because I just heard a thing on her on NPR the other day. Unfortunately, I could not attend the second concert the next evening. I hope that this series continues at the CSUH music department since IG is going off to get her PhD(.... go girl!), because it's too important. I mean, I didn't see too many male student composers there... so obviously, we still need a series like this.