The In-Between Series where you can expect the unexpected.

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The In-Between Series takes place every month on the Monday before each Third Thursday at The Gallery at Avalon Island (39 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, Florida). Thad Anderson’s Sextet performed in January 2015 to kick off the monthly series of New Music. When I hear sextet, I imagined classical musicians with violins, cellos and flutes. This sextet however was all about pure primal new age drumming. A large Critique computer screen was set up in front of the phalanx of drums to display the sheet music.

Ashley Equality Inguanta created an installation stage set that had a small porcelain Virgin Mary with a small vile of perfume or holy water, and rose pedals on the alter and floor. A small rug was set up in front of the alter so that anyone could kneel down if they wanted to. Unfortunately no one stopped at the alter long enough to be included in the sketch.

La Empanada Food Truck was parked in the alley next door, so there was plenty of good food available along with drinks from the Avalon Bar. Sketching to the drums beat loosened up my lines and made me throw washes down with much more vigor.

The next concert at The Gallery at Avalon Island will feature Chris Corsano and
Bill Orcutt on Monday December 28th. The doors will open at 7pm and the
concert will begin at 8pm. All ages are welcome. Click here to check out the event Facebook page for more information.

Ghost in the Machine

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Timothy Stulman the president of Central Florida Composers Forum invited me  to be part of a concert on November 10. I suggested I could do a digital sketch live of the performers and project it during the performance at the White House November 10th. I figured that a sketch being created with the hand unseen would tie in well with the Ghost in the Machine title. I arrived early to set up. Timothy greeted Terry and myself at the door. He had a square three foot white canvas on the stage with an easel. The problem was there were computers and sound mixers in the way of the projector. I wanted the projection to be bigger, so I took the tablet and projector to the second floor. The projected image filled the ceiling. The color would be a bit off, but the audience could see themselves and the performers appear on the ceiling from this God’s eye view. At one point I panicked because I couldn’t find the brushes window. In the digital world, things always seem to crash or disappear into the ether. I tend to work slower digitally since I’m constantly trying to find windows and tools. Too much time is spent searching instead of sketching. At least in the real world, I can leave a brush in my lap and I’ll know where to find it. I felt I ran out of time before I was done, then again, that is why it is a sketch. Of course it will always be fun to brag that I’ve drawn at the White House.

All compositions in the concert contained an electronic element, ranging from interactive computer patches, to surround sound, to recorded ambient noises. One composition was affected by people’s tweets which scrolled across the top of the flat screen TV. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Brian Feldman‘s performances of TXT. People laughed at the tweets as they scrolled. One read, “This is my first tweet, ever!” The concert featured several premieres, including Charles Griffin’s Enfold Us Beneath Open Wings, John Alvarez’s Fermions and Gauge Bosons, and a new work by Thomas Owen. Other featured composers are Thad Anderson, Keith Lay, and Timothy Stulman. The concert also featured the talents of vocalist Michelle Amato and Julie Bateman, saxophonist Timothy Rosenberg, and percussionist Nick Strange.

The concert was part of the Accidental Music Festival, and was free and open to the public. As is the White House tradition, audience members were encouraged to bring a beverage or snack to enjoy before or after the concert. After the concert, several people asked me what software I had used, as if it was the machine that had created the image.

Contemporary Chamber Music

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The Accidental Music Festival hosted an evening of contemporary chamber music at Urban ReThink (625 E. Central Blvd). When I arrived, musicians were milling around and there was the usual mad rush to get everything in place and working by show time. Violinist Eric Smith introduced himself. He knew of my work since I had sketched a string quartet he played with in Winter Park last winter. He said someone shot video of the performance and there I was in the front row of some chairs set up in the street sketching away.

For the first piece Brandon Clinton played piano and Christopher Belt, the festival organizer, played guitar. I decided to sketch from halfway up a staircase. Each chamber music pieces was short and to the point. Eladio Sharron performed with Carrie Wiesinger on flute. Their piece elicited a standing ovation from the 30 or so attendees. On a trip to Germany, I discovered that a very distant relative, Cornelia Thorspecken, is a professional flute player in Wiesbadden. She gave me a CD and since then I’ve become infatuated with the pure sweet tone of the flute. Thad Anderson performed last doing a drum solo. He warned people sitting close that things were going to get loud. If people needed to shield their ears, he wasn’t going to be insulted. Bravely people stayed where they were. It was a stunning way to end the otherwise peaceful evening of music.

On the outer edge of each step of the staircase I was on, there were small candles in glass jars. I was careful to avoid them when I rooted around in by bag for art supplies. When the concert was over, an old man came down the steps cradling his empty dishes from the salad he ate during the concert. He had a cane and it dragged next to him as he walked down. The cane knocked over every candle on the way down. A sound technician followed him down, righting each candle as it tumbled. He turned to me and said, “Unbelievable.” Luckily they were not lit. It was hilarious simply because the guy had no clue about the havoc he was causing.