Music by David Crowell
Performed by Alarm Will Sound
Live at the Mizzou International Composers Festival, July 28, 2012

Fallout

"Failing is something queers do and have always done exceptionally well; for queers failure can be a style... or a way of life... and it can stand in contrast to the grim scenarios of success that depend upon 'trying and trying again.' In fact, if success requires so much effort, then maybe failure is easier in the long run and offers different rewards." -Judith Halberstam, Queer Art of Failure

Premiered April 2024 at the Ann E. Pitzer Center at the University of California, Davis by Nick May as part of the I Exist Project.

jouissance, or learning to let go

Performed 4/12/16 at the Composer's Forum Concert at Rice University

Alex Rosen - Bass
Stephen Barton - Piccolo and alto flute
Kyle Olsen - Bassoon
Timothy Steeves - Violin
Nathan Watts - Cello
Nils Aardahl - Double bass
Cindy Qin - Harp
Wesley Ducote - Piano
Jebat Kee - Conductor

“Imagine time as a river, and that we are flying high above it in an aeroplane. Far below you can just make out the mountain caves of the mammoth-hunters, and the steppes where the first cereals grew. Those distant dots are the pyramids and the tower of Babel. … but in front of us there is nothing but mist, mist that is dense and impenetrable. … Now let us quickly drop down in our plane towards the river. From close up, we can see it is a real river, with rippling waves like the sea. A strong wing is blowing and there are little crests of foam on the waves. Look carefully at the millions of shimmering white bubbles rising and then vanishing with each wave. For a brief instant they are lifted on the wave’s crest and then they sink down and are seen no more. We are like that. Each one of us no more than a tiny glimmering thing, a sparkling droplet on the waves of time which flow past beneath us into an unknown, misty future. We leap up, look around us, and before we know it, we vanish again. And what we call our fate is no more than our struggle in that great multitude of droplets in the rise and fall of one wave.”
-E.H. Gombrich, A Little History of the World (1936)

Bubble in a River

Spring Training. 11 Tracks. All written & produced by Jordan Baumstark

Ratchet

Natalia Bolshakova, piano, Columbia Civic Orchestra, Stefan Freund, conductor

Commissioned by the Columbia Civic Orchestra with funding from the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation

SUN WILL RISE IN BLACK

Music by Wang A-Mao
Performed by Alarm Will Sound
Live at the Mizzou International Composers Festival, July 30, 2016

"Prowesses" is inspired by "The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea," a famous Chinese myth. Today the expression "Eight Immortals cross the sea" usually refers to each member of a group showing his or her special prowess to make a distinctive contribution to their collective success. Rather than depicting each character of the eight immortals, A-Mao decided to take the idea of displaying each performer's skill to create this musical work.⠀
⠀
The "eight" in this piece are: trombone, piccolo, percussion, violin/english horn, clarinet/flute, strings, trumpet/french horn, and piano.⠀

Prowesses

Premiered by the Loon Lake Ensemble, Summer 2016

Catherine Beeson's Album

On Shapes and Figures, for string quartet and bass clarinet

orchestra | 2012

performers:
MU University Philharmonic;
conductor, Edward Dolbashian

[For more info and a perusal score, visit http://www.michaeleanderson.com/2012/02/03/wisdoms-voice-a-prayer-for-the-suffering-2012/]

"Wisdom's Voice: A Prayer for the Suffering" is the composer's musical divulgence of a spiritual journey; a personal journey filled with pain and struggle which eventually gave rise to humbly accepting God's sustaining Wisdom.

The world is a malevolent place and mankind is constantly driven to seek control and understanding of its chaotic nature. A man's desire to strike his own path in life or be rid of the hardships that wound him can become so strong that it blinds his heart in the face of he believes to be his own happiness. He wallows in ignorance and pain; vengefully bitter towards that which harms him and yet too afraid to seek comforting Wisdom from outside of his torturous, yet familiar, refuge of suffering. He brainwashes himself in believing he is truly in control of his unstable life. He attempts to find solace in physical things or imperfect concepts. He tries to make perfect anything that seems to give him a temporary moment of happiness. All of these attempts fail. Eventually he convinces himself that the suffering he endures is what is meant to be. The desire he struggles with becomes an incessant torment; a satanic laughter from beyond the shadows...

...But hope remains, for as the man desperately fights in a vicious dichotomy of yearning and futility, a Voice is at all times calling out to him; pleading for his ear to be lent. Truly, does he hear this divine call. Truly, does he feel it resound in his heart. Slowly, ever so slowly, does he begin to understand the loving words of this guiding Wisdom's Voice; the Voice of God.

"Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words: 'How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.'” (Proverbs 1:20-23; NKJV)

"Wisdom's Voice: A Prayer for the Suffering" was premiered on March 5, 2012 in Missouri Theatre at the annual University of Missouri's Chancellor's Concert. Edward Dolbashian conducted the University Philharmonic for this performance. This piece was commissioned by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation as a result of the Sinquefield Prize; a composition contest created by the Mizzou New Music Initiative, founded by Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield.

Instrumetation:
Piccolo (Flute 3), 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, English Horn, Eb Clarinet, 2 Bb Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 4 Horns, 3 Bb Trumpets, 2 Tenor Trombones, Bass Trombone, Tuba, Timpani, Piano, Strings

Premiere:
March 5, 2012
Missouri Theatre, Columbia, MO

University Philharmonic (University of Missouri)
Edward Dolbashian, conductor

Wisdom's Voice: A Prayer for the Suffering

The music of composer Trey Makler weaves together nostalgic memories, queer experiences, and utopian visions.  His musical narratives are concerned with time and space, desire, and transformation. Musical obstacles are a recurring feature of his music, and function as both obstructions to and features of the performance situation. 

Trey has received performances and commissions from Alarm Will Sound, Berlin PianoPercussion, Camellia Symphony, Empyrean Ensemble, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, saxophonist Nick May and the I Exist Project, The Juilliard Orchestra, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Magella Herrera Quartet, Mizzou New Music Initiative, New York Choreographic Institute, NEO Sound Orchestra, PinkNoise, The University of Missouri Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Workshop, and Vallejo Symphony, among others. Upcoming projects include an immersive chamber opera, Waiting Rooms, which premieres May 2024 at the Sacramento Gender Health Center.

Trey is a PhD candidate in Music Composition and Theory at the University of California, Davis. He holds degrees from The Juilliard School (MM ‘19) and the University of Missouri (BM ‘17).

jouissance, or learning to let go

Trey Anthony Makler

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