So I know that we are a quarter of the way through 2019 already, but here is a quick update of what I am up to this year and the amazing collaborators I get to work with!
Next month will be the first performance of a new piece for solo trombone and electronics written for my good buddy, Michael Beltran. The performance will be April 18 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and will also include some arrangements and tunes deconstructed and performed by Michael and myself. I’m extra excited to get to perform and do some improvisation alongside Michael!
I am currently working on finishing up my piece for Megan Ihnen and Alan Theisen titled Oil Islands. The text was written by dear friend Jeremy De La Rosa and this piece is going to be an actual banger. Soon after, we will be recording this piece and releasing it on an EP alongside a solo piece I wrote for Megan a couple years back and new short work for solo alto sax and electronics which I will be writing for Al. This trio of pieces will create a triptych with Oil Islands as the focal point and the two solo pieces complementing the material therein. I am so thankful for Megan and Al’s eagerness and support of new music.
I have been commissioned by my fav flutey friend, Tammy Evans Yonce, to write two pieces for her next big project which chronicles the life and works of Hunter S. Thompson. I am so excited for the outcome of this project and have really enjoyed diving into the wild life of HST.
In other flute news, I have also received a commission from the National Flute Association to compose a piece for their 2020 high school solo competition. I am ecstatic to have my name alongside the other composers who have received this commission (including the amazing Mary Kouyoumdjian!!), and can’t wait to attend the conference next year!
I was recently named a fellow for the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. Gabriela has created a really special and intimate opportunity for composers that helps to foster experimentation and growth without the dread of failure and its consequences. So many other amazing composers will also be attending throughout the year and I cannot wait to be among them and learn from them as well as the musicians we will be working with. I will be writing a new string quartet for my residency at the academy. Super stoked to do some string writing again!
In February, I took a trip to Atlanta for a few days to workshop my solo drum set plus electronics piece, Trying to Not Lose Myself. The piece was written for tech guru and percussion master Victor Pons. We were able to do some really great work in a weekend, and with a few revisions the piece will be ready to roll later this year.
Both Tammy Evans Yonce and my twin, Andy Hudson, will be performing some of my music at conferences later this year. Tammy will be taking my solo piece, Highways, to the 2019 National Flute Association conference, and Andy will be performing my new woodwind duet CRINGE alongside his colleague Dr. Anthony Taylor at ClarinetFest in Knoxville. Tammy will also be premiering the revised version of my trio, Push Process, in the fall.
There are a couple of other big projects in the works right now that I will hopefully be able to announce soon, but all in all, my hands are full this year in the best way possible. I am so extremely grateful to get to do this with some amazing people who also happen to be incredible musicians.