This piece is dedicated to my late grandfather, Wilfredo Acevedo, Sr., who was called home by the Lord this past winter. Grandpa was a godly man who gladly assumed sacrificial responsibility for all of his family, including me, as well as countless friends. He leaves behind a wife, four children, eleven grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.

The title "Already But Not Yet" is a phrase commonly used by Christian theologians to illustrate the current state of our world. We "already" live in the midst of the kingdom of heaven and, if we are Christians, with the gift of redemption and eternal life. But, at the same time, the world is "not yet" fully free of sin and death. That is, we still face such difficult providences as war, famine, natural disaster, and disease. This "living in the tension," as it's often called, is what I aim to evoke in this piece through a reflection on my grandfather's death.

Already But Not Yet — for trumpet and live electronics (2022)

Greetings—I'm a Philadelphia-based composer and music educator. My wide-ranging work draws from many different traditions—including jazz, M-Base, Afro-Latin, electronica, metal, hip-hop, early music, and new music—and integrates linear and cyclic concepts to weave hypnotic musical narratives.

My music has been performed, workshopped, and recorded by loadbang, Daedalus Quartet, the International Contemporary Ensemble, counter)induction, confluss, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, Sae Hashimoto, Matt Sharrock, Ellery Trafford, and more. It has been premiered at such venues as the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Symphony Space, OPERA America, the Spencer Museum of Art, the Staller Center for the Arts, and the Italian Academy at Columbia University.

My work has been featured by Score Follower and has been selected for a wide variety of new music festivals and concert series both domestic and international, including the Yarn/Wire International Institute (New York), Longy’s Divergent Studio (Massachusetts), CLICK FEST (Ohio), Ears to the Earth (Kansas), the School for Improvisational Music Summer Intensive (New York), and the Young Composers Meeting (Netherlands).

I'm currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Music Composition at the University of Pennsylvania, where I study composition with Natacha Diels. I hold an M.A. in Music Composition from Stony Brook University (2023), where I studied composition with Matthew Barnson, Perry Goldstein, and Daniel Weymouth and taught several semesters of undergraduate music theory. I received the Ackerman Prize for Excellence in Graduate Studies in recognition for my work at SBU. Prior to this, I received a B.A. in Music from Columbia University (2019), where I studied composition with George Lewis, Georg Haas, Zosha Di Castri, and Andy Milne; trumpet with Andy Kozar, Adam O’Farrill, and Amir ElSaffar; and music theory with Joseph Dubiel.

Already But Not Yet — for trumpet and live electronics (2022)

david_acevedo_music