Joel’s the Expert for QOTD (Question Of the Day)!

A little while ago I sat down with friend/collaborator Murray Horwitz and we talked about one of my favorite subjects: The Beatles. Well, the early Beatles. Wait, the really early Beatles. No…  before they were Beatles, as in the Quarrymen. This time it was for The Question Of The Day created by Sarah Andrew Wilson & Joel Wilson of matchbox.io! Check it out: HERE.

Four By Sondheim At Stanford!

Violinist Stephanie Chase Interviews me for Stay Thirsty Magazine!

Dear friend, and violinist extraordinaire, Stephanie Chase interviewed me for this month’s edition of Stay Thirsty Magazine. You can find it HERE!

Guest speaker for Stanford University’s Distinguished Careers Institute

I was very happy to be the guest speaker for Stanford University’s Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI) today. We had a great time doing a deep dive into the creation of the song Help! JL: “Stop it! Stop, stop… string gone” GH: “I’ll have to double-track singing it. I’ll have to do this bit singing, which is going to be even harder still.” Thank you DCI! 

Premiere of Inferno Postponed Until Fall 2020/Covid-19

Dear Friends: In an abundance of caution, and following suit with a number of other Bay Area organizations, the March 29, 2020 premiere of my Inferno, Double Concerto for Viola, Cello, and Chamber Orchestra with Jennifer Kloetzel, Jonathan Moerschel, Maestra Barbara Day Turner, and San José Chamber Orchestra has been postponed. However, Silver Lining: We are working on the reschedule! So: watch this space! Meanwhile, let’s keep those on the West Coast, and the Bay Area in particular, in our thoughts.

“Home” was a hit!

“Home” the evening-length puppetry theatre multimedia play I scored had a successful run at the Tank NYC in May. It was a real pleasure to work with an all-star creative team and cast on this moving and beautiful work. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Taipei, Taiwan!

A fantastic trip traveling all over Taiwan meeting artists, composers, teachers, and administrators, and seeing everything thing from the new ultra modern Weiwuying – National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, to the Aboriginal Piwan tribes, to the National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei. Composer Dr. Ching-Wen Chao was kind enough to invite me to speak to her fantastic students in her formal analysis class about “Beatle Innovation: When Curiosity & Technology Met Songwriting.” The warmth, breath, and high level of art making here is beyond belief (not to mention… the food!).

Presentation at the Abbey Road Conference!

I had a great time giving my paper/presentation George Harrison and Something- Sinatra’s “favorite Lennon & McCartney song” at the recent Abbey Road Conference at Eastman/Univeristy of Rochester (for the 50th Anniversary of the release of Abbey Road). It was a fantastic conference, with amazing participants and presentations, and how often do you get to hang out and chat with legend Ken Townsend, MBE – the inventor of ADT (Artificial Double Tracking), and the savior of Abbey Road Studios?

All Things Are Set Ablaze in Keene and New York City.

Those three forces of nature, otherwise known as ModernMedieval – founder Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, Martha Cluver, and Eliza Bagg – did two more superb performances of their Words of Love and Wisdom program, including my badass Hildegarde piece From: All Things Are Set Ablaze, as part of the Electric Earth Concerts, Keene, NH. and then at the spectacular Fuentidueña Chapel at The Met Cloisters. And Classical Voice North America loved the program too! Click here for the review. I don’t mind “While it was certainly raucous and exciting – the trio played a tambourine, a small mallet-hit hand drum, and a triangle as they sang – the piece was far from furious. In fact, it was so much fun that Horner-Kwiatek’s final triangle ting earned a chuckle from the audience.”

Elastic Band @Shenendoah Conservatory

I had a great time last week at Shenandoah Conservatory in beautiful Winchester, Virginia. A *very* full visit with friends conductor Tim Robblee and composer extraordinaire Jonathan Newman and the the faculty and students. I taught composition lessons, gave a masterclass, had rehearsal, and heard my Elastic Band (Octet version) performed at the über-hip Bright Box Theater in downtown Winchester. Thank you Jonathan and Tim!