.News

Artist Residency at the Visby International Centre for Composers in August

I am very much looking forward to 3 weeks in August at the Visby Centre for Composers (VICC) in the town of Visby located on the island of Gotland off of the coast of Sweden. I will be composing a new work for stellar mezzo soprano Rachel Calloway and the excellent Amernet string quartet for premiere in January. More about VICC here

Gingold Chamber Music Festival Composition Institute

Looking forward to my work as faculty and director of the inaugural Gingold Chamber Music Festival Composition Institute. The Festival runs from July 10 – 30 at Barry University in Miami. Joining me are Chen Yi and Chinary Ung and a group of very talented composers. The festival also boasts some incredibly talented students and a performance faculty headed by virtuoso violinist Andres Cardenas. More here

Premiere of my new work by the Orquesta de Camara de Bellas Artes and guitarist Jaime Marquez in Mexico City

I was extremely pleased with the premiere performances in Mexico City of my work imagenes de viento, llluvia, y sonidos cristalizados, performed by the Orquesta de Camara de Bellas Artes, classical guitarist Jaime Marquez, and artistic director Luis Manuel Sanchez conducting at the Sala Manuel Ponce in the Palacio de Bellas Artes on June 22 with a repeat performance on June 25 at the Sala Silvestre Revueltas in the Conservatorio Nacional. A big thanks to them and to maestro Ludwig Carrasco for his interest and support for the project. The performances were exceptional and the audience response was extremely positive. More

Week long artist residency at the Betsy Hotel on Miami Beach in March

It was a great pleasure to spend time in the writers room at the Betsy Hotel on Ocean Drive the first week of March. The residency allowed me the time to complete the new work for String Noise Duo being premiered by them as part of the New Music Miami Festival on April 5 and subsequently in NYC. Very grateful for the opportunity at a wonderful place to work.More here

Interview in I Care If You Listen re my new work for Ensemble Pi on the theme of social justice

The online new music journal I Care If You Listen recently published an interview with me regarding my work impulso/momentum premiered as part of a concert with the theme of social justice featuring the NYC based Ensemble Pi. I am very grateful to ICIYL for allowing me the opportunity to present my views on my work, the text I created for the work, and the subject/theme for the concert. The interview can be accessed here

Walter Hinrichsen Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters

I am extremely honored and humbled to have received the 2022 Walter Hinrichsen Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. This award was established by the C. F. Peters Corporation, music publishers, in 1984, and is given for the publication of a work by a gifted composer. I am very much looking forward to having my music included in the catalog of this extremely important and historic publisher and am very grateful to the committee. More here

Premiere of new work in NYC by Ensemble Pi

On March 2 the New York City based Ensemble Pi will be premiering my new work impulso/momentum for baritone voice and chamber ensemble. The work commissioned by the ensemble will be part of a concert on the theme of social justice. More information here

recent

Gingold Chamber Music Festival Composition Institute

Looking forward to my work as faculty and director of the inaugural Gingold Chamber Music Festival Composition Institute. The Festival runs from July 10 - 30 at Barry University in Miami. Joining me are Chen Yi and Chinary Ung and a group of very talented composers....

reviews

Review in La Folia of my string quartet album on Metier

Let us not obsess over the fact that Garcia studied intently with Feldman. (See here for a 2003 release.) Some of the gestures are similar, and Garcia also likes to explore minimalist eddies where a few ideas or pitches are gently tumbled. But this composer is also...

articles

Why References?

When I was in graduate school in the early and mid 1980s, I had the good fortune to work with an Asian American composer and teacher at the University of Miami named Dennis Kam. At that time he was very much involved with the idea of musical stasis or a music that by...

What is Art Music?

As we enter the next century the music world can seem a bit confusing. Twenty five years ago what was considered the Western Art music canon consisted of music from either Antiquity or the Renaissance through the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and into the 20th...

Teaching Composition: Some General Thoughts

Teaching someone to compose is impossible! We all know that Bartok said it and refused to teach composition. My mentor Feldman taught composition but always claimed you couldn’t do it, for which he was often criticized by students. His now somewhat famous response to...

Boola Boola Revisited

Slightly more than 15 years ago, soon after finishing my doctoral studies, I had the great fortune of studying with Morton Feldman for 3 intensive weeks. These sessions proved to have a great impact on my career as a composer and pedagogue and I was fortunate to be...

Another Approach to Electroacoustic Music

At times I find myself feeling somewhat out of place at some of the electroacoustic music events where my work is presented. This is not because I do not find this genre of interest or because I am not pleased with my work or that of my colleagues, but because my...