Twitches in Anticipation

An old song of mine, "Chameleon," is getting a lot of sudden attention, and I wish I knew what prompted it. Out of the ten songs on the album, this particular track is one of the more highly produced, with the most straightforward lyrics, so I suppose it makes sense in terms of commercial viability. There are other songs, though, that I want to brush off and say "Hey! Look at this pretty one! It's introspective and sensitive and lovely!" But anyway, something has picked it up and looked at it and other things are noticing and also looking at it, seemingly out of nowhere. I'm getting lots of NOI's for this one song (Notice of Intent to License) and so far it is not translating into concrete $ language in my account but it sure is entertaining and fun to speculate. There is apparently some streaming going on. Side note: I have a sudden urge to travel to Luxembourg. Apparently they love me!

cold snap

We've seen some very cold days this past week in Seattle, but the stretch is coming to a close. Here is a memento.

"Mirasteros" wins string quartet call for scores competition!

My string quartet piece "Mirasteros" was one of ten works selected by blind jury in the Seattle Composers Alliance first-annual International Call for Scores Competition! 

If you're not familiar with what a "Call for Scores" is, it is mainly three things: a way to (potentially) get your work performed, a way to grow as a composer, and great incentive to do the specific kind of work that is "called for" so you at least have that in your basket when all is said and done, regardless of the outcome. One of the hardest things about composing (or creating in general) is narrowing down your options. A call for scores does the defining for you, and then you just treat it as an assignment. In this case it was a string quartet, 3-5 minutes in length. That was it.

I'm very pleased with this work, and so glad that I get to hear it and share it VERY SOON! As in, next week!

The ten winning works will be performed by the Saint Helens String Quartet at The Chapel Performance Space at Good Shepherd Center in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle as part of the Wayward Music Series.

7:30pm Tuesday October 21.

$5-$15 general admission, free for SCA members.

4649 Sunnyside Ave N Seattle 98103

NDAs that go both ways

At first, it was a very odd feeling to need to sign a non-disclosure agreement about projects I was working on. The pain of having all of this music I'm super extra proud of and want to share, that I cannot. I acclimated about as much I could, though. Projects started to collect, as they do. Some of them have gone into hibernation, some have changed, one has actually died. Some are moving. Now the shoe is on both feet at the same time, as I send out my own little NDA for collaborators. The waiting IS the hardest part.

Congratulations to the winners

I'm constantly being thrown curveballs in this industry. I was asked to be on the SCA jury to award an original score prize to a feature and a short film for the 17th annual Local Sightings Film Festival at Northwest Film Forum. I'm so glad I overcame my initial reluctance because I otherwise wouldn't have had the opportunity to watch such an amazing scope and variety of work among the eight features and 18 shorts, give or take, that my colleagues and I screened. Congratulations to Daryl Bennett for "The Exhibition" and Melody Loveless for "Maureen." People don't often realize how crucial the underscore is in the success of the overall film, so it's really gratifying to be able to recognize and reward such excellence. Bravo.

James Richter and Susan Maughlin Wood of Seattle Composers Alliance

Into this world we're thrown

The game "Heroes of the Storm" is in beta signups now. This is a recent project with RPM Seattle for Blizzard Entertainment for which I had the pleasure of assisting in preparing the scores/parts for recording sessions. There are so many pages of music for projects like these… you would be amazed!

Wallpaper from Blizzard website

Interludes are up!

Go check them out here. Keep in mind that this was a one-time, live performance so I trust that you will forgive the occasional errant bang, cough and other irregularity on the string quartet pieces. Also keep in mind that they are free downloads (although I do welcome donations, which are easy to do on Bandcamp!)

https://punchbeam.bandcamp.com/album/bridging-the-journey-interludes

…and for context, the entire concert is available on YouTube split into four parts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1lm4GyJHE0

with complete program notes here: http://www.ryanellis.net

Thanks again for your support and encouragement.

Crossed Those Bridges

The concert last week was amazing, as I'd expected and hoped, and the sentiment seems to have been shared! The string quartet interludes were very well received, as were the manipulated sound files. I have promised to get all nine interludes up online as soon as possible. 

UW Summer Chorale led by Ryan Ellis