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Composer Quiz → Michael Gilbertson
- Michael Gilbertson and I are deep in preparations for tomorrow's premiere of his new piece, but we managed to grab a few quiet moments between rehearsals and appearances to do the first-ever orchestra21 guest artist lightning round. [Hit up my ask page with questions you'd like to see answered in future composer and performer interviews]: So Michael, thanks for submitting yourself to this. Let's start with the hard-hitting journalism – where are you from?
- Michael Gilbertson: I was born and grew up in Dubuque, Iowa, and still spend a lot of time there. I've spent most of the last five years working and studying in New York.
- JW: And your musical background?
- MG: I started playing piano when I was quite young, and later learned violin and viola. I love theater and drama, which has definitely influenced the dramatic inclination of my music.
- JW: What are you up to currently?
- MG: Just started working on my masters degree at Yale. The next big project is a guitar concerto for the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and I’ve also begun a three-year term as composer-in-residence of Red Cedar Chamber Music.
- JW: Red Cedar, cool – we just worked with them here in Cedar Falls. But how about something even more 'currently', like last Friday night?
- MG: I remember going to an 11pm show at the Yale Cabaret, after that I don’t remember a thing.
- JW: I had a few evenings like that courtesy the Cabaret ... I think! Now that this stuff is out there you might as well tell us the one thing you don’t want us to know about your music.
- MG: Almost nothing in it is truly original. When I begin the process of writing a piece, I sometimes make a list of musical ideas from other sources I want to adopt into my sound world.
- JW: Influence is such a central force in musical traditions. What's in your ears these days?
- MG: Right now, Michael Jackson. Also a lot of music by the British composer Thomas Adès.
- JW: Yes, I'm intrigued by Adès too. And of course MJ! Classic, but maybe not quite as classic as some of your favorite old masters?
- MG: Bach, Mozart, Prokofiev, and Copland.
- JW: Talk to us about New York, the inspiration for your new piece.
- MG: The era, the 1920s, was as much an inspiration for the piece as the city itself. The particular challenge in Tragedy Tomorrow was to try to capture some of the aesthetic qualities of art deco in music. There’s a sense of bursting energy, motion, and optimism in the art of that time. While futurism in interwar European artistic movements had a harder, modernist edge, the futurism at work in American movements like art deco took on a sense of glamour and elegance, which I hope is evident in the piece.
- JW: No doubt - I really feel the classically American exuberance in this music. So, when not composing you are ...
- MG: I follow politics closely, and always look forward to the Iowa caucuses. I love running, biking, playing and watching tennis, and recently took up squash. Reading and seeing plays, particularly Shakespeare, Chekhov, Strindberg, and Kushner – usually enjoy that more going to concerts. I also devote a good chunk of time each year to coordinating a music festival in Dubuque called Juilliard in June which I started in 2009. The event brings six of my Juilliard friends to Iowa each June for educational seminars, and a gala concert.
- JW: Which brings us to our most important question ... Corn or soy?
- MG: Definitely corn.
Submitted by drivable-planets: Do you own a panoramic camera and a regular camera, or is there something on your regular camera where you can take panoramic shots? I own a Nikon D5000, and I don't have that, I don't think.
Thanks for the question, Liana. I take pictures with two different cameras – iPhone 4 and Canon T2i. All of the Panos and most of the Instagrams I share here are iPhone [check out some more at my Flickr]. The rest are shot on the Canon with a 50mm f/1.4 lens in and around our home in Cedar Falls or, when I have space to carry a DSLR, on the road.
Submitted by quixotekid: What program are you using to view your score on the iPad?
I have a decent collection of PDF scores and parts scanned from my own library, grabbed from IMSLP and submitted to me by composers. Since I almost always prefer Apple’s UI to those of other app makers I usually use iBooks to read PDFs on my iPad – I drop the individual scores I need to prepare [at least the ones that aren’t rentals] into iTunes and sync them to the iPad for viewing in iBooks.
The one drawback of accessing PDF scores in iBooks – particularly for use in rehearsal – is that the software’s landscape orientation allows only for a one-page view rather than switching to a two-page side-by-side layout as it does with purchased books. I hope Apple adds two-page landscape functionality for PDF files at some point but in the meantime I’ve also been experimenting with a much more powerful and flexible PDF app, Goodreader. In addition to offering a variety of file tools [most of which aren’t really necessary for score reading] Goodreader also has the added bonus of being able to access the web from within the app and can also sync with cloud services like Dropbox. [This is handy for me as my entire score/parts archive is stored on Dropbox.]
Finally, there’s an app built around the IMSLP database called Padrucci, but aside from offering direct access to that collection of music it does not seem to add any functionality to the existing PDF capabilities of iBooks.
Anyone have any other good score reading options for the iPad? Share them here or in the post comments and I’ll try to pass them along.
Update: A WCFSO musician left a note on Facebook recommending forScore. I’ve been trying it out and it does offer an interesting set of features, including web/cloud access. No two-page landscape layout, though.
Submitted by quixotekid: Great info on Dvorak! I really enjoy some of his pieces. The community orchestra that I am in is playing Festival March for our Spring/Summer concert next month! Good stuff.
I love his music too, particularly the evocative, disappearing-world quality it shares with Mahler’s early Bohemian-inflected compositions. The experience of presenting Dvořák in Spillville this week was magical – the St. Wenceslas organ on which he played daily for several months towered over us during our performances there on Friday. Here’s a shot of the church I took after one of our educational concerts:
Also learned that Dvořák had secret spot by the Turkey River where he strolled with a bucket of pilsner provided by one of the establishments in town. Based on that alone I think I’ll be back in Spillville soon to do some more following in his footsteps …
Submitted by reklamesorous: why do you like aaron copland so much?
I think it’s just that you found my blog at the right time! Whenever I have a concert coming up I post material related to the composers and works on the program, and since I was performing Appalachian Spring earlier this month I blew up the Dashboard with Copland material for about a week prior. [Protip: Each post connected to a particular concert is tagged with the performance date like so, and you can also follow any composer tag to see all of my posts related to a specific artist.]
All that aside, I do love Copland’s music and believe that he is one of the most essential American artistic voices of the 20th century.
Submitted by Anonymous: Hello Jason. #askaconductor was great fun - hope you enjoyed it, too. Love your tumblr site, and many of the pics. Do you chase guest conducting arrangements? If so, is it through people you already know, or do you 'submit' materials? I simply don't have the contacts in the US, nor sufficient recent professional experience. Stephen http://stephenpbrown.com
Thanks, Stephen, and likewise – #askaconductor was indeed a blast.
I generally don’t pursue many one-off appearances, as I believe the prevalence of guest conducting [the bulk of which is agent-driven] and the concurrent reduction in the activities of music directors with orchestras they lead are generally counter to ensembles’ artistic health and the goals they should be striving to achieve in their communities. There are certainly exceptions to this point of view, but everyone – from audience to performers – seems to benefit most from artistic relationships that are formed and deepened by repeated collaboration. When I do look for guest gigs, they tend to be things like all-state orchestras which feature different conductors [and players] from year to year.
I also believe very much in the idea of ‘fit’ as it pertains to leadership at performing arts organizations, so along those lines I try to learn as much as I can about the history and culture of an orchestra and its community before I pursue a job there. Generally speaking, when quality opportunities arise for me they often do so because of a connection with someone at or close to the organization, and in almost all cases that connection leads to a good fit with the orchestra.
Now on to more important issues: since you enjoyed your stop over here on Tumblr perhaps we need to see you on the Dashboard …
