Recently, I got back to the piano because I may want to play some of my works in recital soon. And as I was playing my old pieces, I realized I was hitting some wrong notes. “Well, it’s the lack of practice”, I thought. But as I continued practicing I […] Read more »
A change of pace – On Common Ground
Well, I have been doing a podcast for a couple of years now, but I have not written much in my blog. And I usually use my blog to talk about a musical concept, explain some of my musical ideas or deal with creativity issues. But today, I am going […] Read more »
On having a podcast
Well, this is a continuation of my previous post in March of last year. I had been consumed with the problem of how to get my music to reach more people and suddenly I was struck by the realization that it is not all about me. As a composer of […] Read more »
Marketing versus Composing
One of the basic problems that a composer has these days is the necessity to market themselves to get more work while continuing to compose. Marketing and composing are two diametrically opposed activities. Composing requires total immersion in what you are doing and leaving the world behind. To really reach […] Read more »
Should we write about the issues of the day or about eternal values?
This is a question that I have pondered since I started composing. One wants to add one’s voice to the chorus looking to identify and resolve the pressing issues of the day and yet, one wonders if talking, or writing music, in this case, about them is the best way […] Read more »
Why Classical Music?
One question I have had to answer a few times is why did I chose to compose classical music as opposed to popular music or jazz. I remember an answer I gave on a TV interview some years ago about the difference between popular music and classical. You may not […] Read more »
What is a “through-composed” song?
I decided to write about this subject because I am writing choral music and most of my works are through-composed. So what does that mean? It basically means that you start setting a text to music and you write original music until you reach the end of the text without […] Read more »
About simplicity in music
I am currently writing a choral piece called The Immigrants that is going to be performed in Minneapolis by several choirs in different concerts: A professional choir, a community choir and a high school choir. One of the most difficults aspects of writing this work is writing it at a […] Read more »
How do I define my music?
I define my music, for music fans, as normal music with more dissonance than usual. The added dissonance adds interest to the piece and is used to emphasize emotional moments as well as to serve as a greater contrast to beautiful segments. In Moses, an Oratorio, for example, in the […] Read more »
About Writing Contemporary Music
With the premiere of my String Quartet, I realized that writing New Music keeps being a big priority for me. It is a great challenge to write music that is accesible, yet fresh, which is what I want to do. I just finished writing a 5 minute work for a […] Read more »