A great experience

Just a quick note to say how much I learned from the Earshot readings with the CSO. I am still sorting through all of the feedback from the mentor composers, conductors, and orchestra musicians, and thinking hard about how to apply all of this information to my next orchestral piece!

I am so thankful for the amazing support we had at the readings. The organization of the readings was pretty much flawless, so special thanks to everyone who made that happen. Specifically, I'd like to thank the ACO folks (Michael Geller, John Glover, Jenny Kampmeier, and Lyn Liston), Ed Harsh from Meet the Composer, Alberto Gutierrez and Jessie Arian from the CSO, and of course the musicians of the CSO!

I thought Robert Beaser, Derek Bermel, and Roberto Sierra were really impressive - I knew they were very good composers, but I was grateful for their thoughtful analysis/criticism of the pieces, which is not always guaranteed with "well-known" composers.

I can hardly imagine more dedicated conductors than David Gier and Fergus Macleod. It was a pleasure working with Fergus on my piece, and I am still pondering some of the advice/comments that both conductors made about the four pieces, and about writing for the orchestra in general.

Finally, thanks to Angel, Jeremy and Yotam! Though all four of us seem to be quite different aesthetically, I also feel a "kinship" with you. I enjoyed getting to know your pieces, and am looking forward to hearing more of your music!

-Tim Sullivan

Reflections on a crazy day

Wow. What a long, exciting, stressful, and rewarding day. I thought all of the readings went pretty well, and the orchestra sounded simply fabulous! Working and talking through my piece with Fergus was great, and I am anxious to see if the small adjustments we made will be successful. The feedback on all of the pieces from conductors, players and mentor composers was really amazing - even if I didn't agree with everything that was said, it was great to hear so many different perspectives, and some things really resonated with me. I'm excited to hear all of the pieces again tomorrow!

-Tim Sullivan

caption:
1. Tim Sullivan making corrections and adjustments to his work following the first day of the reading.

Mad Music! Part 1

Minutes before the first reading, Derek Bermel talks with composer Tim Sullivan and conductor Fergus Macleod about the preparations before heading into day 1 of the readings session...

Anticipation

Less than two weeks now until the CSO/EarShot readings, and I am admittedly having difficulty concentrating on anything else! I somehow managed to survive part extraction…is there anything more stressful, tedious and ultimately exhilarating than preparing orchestral parts? Even a week later, I still have irrational nightmares that a different measure was left out of every single part, and that somehow I failed to notice this in spite of multiple proof-readings! Alas, sometimes I have to open the files in Sibelius just to make sure…

My experiences with this piece are remarkably similar to what Jeremy Podgursky described in his post: it is my composition dissertation, which I worked on for about a year, and I have often wondered if it would ever receive a performance or reading. Though I have written other pieces for small orchestra, this was my first completed composition for full symphony orchestra, and though it was strenuous, I enjoyed working on it more than any other piece in recent memory.

I wasn’t required to write an orchestral work for my dissertation, and many people suggested that I write something more “practical.” While I understood the risks, I felt like it was necessary – I love orchestral music, and had an urge to write something big (relatively speaking, anyway). Upon completion, I dutifully submitted the piece to reading sessions and competitions, often with a MIDI recording (that I spent way too much time on considering how poorly it represents the piece!). After several rejections and a couple of honorable mentions, I figured the piece had just about run its course without a performance…and then the EarShot readings were announced!

I suppose at this point I am quite biased, but even back in November I thought the EarShot readings were a great idea. First off, I was amazed when I was told there was no need to send another score since I had already applied to the ACO Underwood readings – just fill out a brief online application, and voila, it’s done! In fact, it was so easy I completely forgot about it until I read about the Memphis readings after the fact! When John Glover called about the Colorado readings, I think my first reaction was something like a combination of disbelief (really?) and relief (I’m actually going to hear this piece?), and then as it settled in I started to get really excited. Like Jeremy said, I feel very fortunate to be selected.

Well, I better try to get back to work…looking forward to July 16-17!

-Tim Sullivan