This is a small 8 minute work I wrote for piano trio in 2013. It would make a great concert opener as it has both drama and lyricism with a bright and dreamy final section.

Flight for violin, cello and piano (2013)

This is a recording of my song Santa Rosa performed by soprano Shannon Robert and pianist Yumi Suehiro. Recorded on Sunday March 30, 2014 at the Jan Hus Church in New York. This was a song in their Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame set, part of the Composer's Voice concert series. 

I wrote this song about a plum tree I was given on the second date with the woman who later became my wife. I saw the call for scores in late 2013 and wrote a haiku and music about the tree. We got married on February 2, 2014 and a week later I received the email that Shannon and Yumi were going to perform the song on their program. Quite a nice unexpected wedding present!

Santa Rosa

Performed by soprano Debra Gilroy and pianist Emily Urban at Honey in Minneapolis, MN on February 8, 2015. Part of an Opera on Tap: Twin Cities performance. The program was titled New Arias on Tap in conjunction with Composer Quest. This is the expanded 3 minute version of the one minute song that was premiered by soprano Shannon Roberts and pianist Yumi Suehiro as part of their Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame in 2014.

In three movements. The faster sections of this piece have some playful, colorful music and the slow sections have some broad open music reminiscent of driving through the desert. Hence the title Mojave Games.

Mojave Games for trombone and marimba (2012)

This piece for saxophone quartet is an expansion of a one minute piece premiered by the New Thread Saxophone Quartet on January 11, 2015 as part of their Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame. This longer version was completed in late January 2015.

SilkThreads - Sax Quartet

Swampland is a one minute electronic piece, it was created in GarageBand by recording my 4 birds. They are all parrotlets, a small 4 inch long species of parrot. I dropped the recording of my hen Ellie down 4 octaves and it sounds like she is humming a melody. Also I tried to listen for motives and repeated those on the recording. I just added a little reverb. It was recently accepted for the 60x60 Louisiana Dance Mix http://www.60x60.com/2014_Louisiana_Mix.htm 

Swampland

Live recording of Mark Robson playing my 2015 piece Down the Rabbit Hole for toy piano. Recorded at Boston Court, Pasadena California on May 8 2015.

Down The Rabbit Hole for toy piano

I wrote this guitar quartet between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2014. My puppy Sophie was often sleeping at my feet while I was writing it. What do Labrador puppies dream about? This piece is my best guess. The fantastic UK Guitar Quartet is playing this premiere on the Composer's Voice Concert Series May 31, 2015.

Black Pearl for 4 guitar

London harpist Olivia Jageurs has a 15 second harp website and Facebook page. If you can send her harp piece or section of a piece, 15 seconds or less she will record and post it by the next day. She will include some helpful commentary on the playability. Quite a nice way of encouraging composers to write for the harp! The 15 second limit is because that is the limit of videos on Instagram. She also sent me a nice audio file played at a slower tempo to test her new recording equipment so that is the recording I am using here. http://www.15secondharp.com/

Every Second Counts

This is a trio for flute,b-flat clarinet and bassoon. There is also a version for oboe, b-flat clarinet and bassoon. My style is so different than Messiaen that I thought I could write my own bird related music that was uniquely my own. I also wanted to write a piece that was innovative, complex and accessible. With this piece I tried an expansive expressive range by using fragmentary and longer melodic lines along with very antiphonal sections and a clear cut form. The influence of Messiaen and Webern is there but it's very much my own voice. This piece was the grand prize winner of the Composer's Guild Competition in 2011. I got a nice check but it still hasn't been performed! Of course I'm thankful to the Guild but I am also looking forward to this piece being performed. And I wrote this piece a year before I met my girlfriend Tess and had any birds in the house!

Birdsong for flute, clarinet in b-flat and bassoon (2009)

This piece has a very clear cut form but is also very romantic, there are lots of diminished and diminished seventh chords. I was writing this around the holidays and also looking at pictures of early Los Angeles so that all probably played a part in the mood. 

Glow for 2 violins (2011)

Playtime! is a 57 second piece for solo flute that was written for a specific call for scores:
http://www.voxnovus.com/15_Minutes_of_Fame/featuring/Jacqueline_Martelle/
It was premiered on Mother's Day 2013 by Jacqueline Martelle in New York City on a Vox Novus program. With the Mother's Day theme and a solo flute piece I felt at the time I wanted to express the childlike qualities. If I had to do it over again I might express the Mother's Day theme differently but it did make me write a very attractive piece. I'm continuing to compose short flute pieces. I have 9 written so far and I am collecting them in what I am tentatively calling my Little Flute Book. All of these pieces so far are one minute or less.

Playtime! for solo flute (2012)

This is another one of my one minute flute pieces for a collection I am writing tentatively titled My Little Flute Book.  I realized you can say an amazing amount in a one minute piece, hence the title. It has some repetitive motives and has an ecstatic mood.

Micro Universe - solo flute (2013)

This is a 9'30" orchestral piece I wrote in 2008-2009. When I was thinking of titles I was trying to think of what colors I would associate with the music and I thought of dark shades of red (especially the opening). It's a Brahms sized orchestra (2222, 422, timp, strings) and there is more emphasis on the winds and brass along with a lot of other more contemporary touches. It's a pretty accessible and energetic piece and won the orchestra/band section of the 2009 Composer's Guild Competition but no performance yet! 

Deeply Red for  orchestra (2008-2009)

I am a composer and Los Angeles native. I'm using this site for audio files of some of my music that is yet to be performed but also for some recordings of performances. The midi files were created in Finale/Garritan. If you are a musician and are interested in scores/parts send me an email blairwhittington@gmail.com

Short bio
Blair Whittington is a Los Angeles based composer who concentrates on chamber and orchestral music. His most recent composition  awards were from Vox Novus and the Composer’s Guild Grand Prize. His chamber music is often very interactive between the players. Emphasis on instrumental color, formal clarity, defined climaxes and contrast between fragmentary and longer melodic passages are all part of his compositional style.


Thanks for listening!

Blair

Blair Whittington

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