by Modern Songbook Records | May 18, 2014 | Interviews, News
At the taping of Carl Kassell’s final Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me episode a couple of days ago, I ran into my old friend Amy Dickinson, a writer and frequent panelist on the show. And seeing Amy reminded me of the radio piece that sparked our friendship: her terrific July 2002 All Things Considered report on a nostalgic summer symphony of mine called The Blue Chevrolet.
You can hear the radio segment, which my mom basically stole out from under me, here: Blue Chevrolet NPR Story. If you’d like to listen to the third movement of the Blue Chevrolet symphony, you can stream it here: The Blue Chevrolet – Movement III: The Detour, The Argument, and Finally, The Map.
by Modern Songbook Records | Mar 15, 2014 | News
I recently started scoring a difficult, meaningful, and beautiful film called Leprosy: A Love Story. Leprosy is a biblical disease, but it still destroys millions of lives. Now, the drug manufacturer Novartis is giving the cure away for free, to eradicate this scourge. Producers David Hanrahan and Joe Fab have been documenting this effort; I’m honored to help.
by Modern Songbook Records | Feb 14, 2014 | News
A brand-new string ensemble has chosen my piece “String Transparencies” for their next concert. Takoma Ensemble, led by Victoria Gau, associate conductor of the National Philharmonic at Strathmore, started their season with a piece by Lou Harrison! That tells you all you need to know about Vicki and the musical landscape she tends to traipse.
by Modern Songbook Records | Jan 15, 2014 | News
The Maryland Youth Ballet has commissioned a ballet for their 2015 season. We’ve got a title, Open 24 Hours, and it’s up to me to create both plot and score for this piece, which will be choreographed by Christopher Doyle. I’m writing the ballet for full orchestra.
by Modern Songbook Records | Dec 15, 2013 | News
I am gearing up to score a new PBS documentary about Admiral Hyman Rickover, the moving force behind the launch of America’s first nuclear-powered submarine. This is the long-term project of director Michael Pack, and it stars Tim Blake Nelson of O Brother, Where Art Thou? as Rickover. Clearly this will be an unusual film. Pack and I have been talking about this score for some time now. We both agree that Rickover was at the same time heroic and difficult and lonely. The score will feature alto sax, and there will be moments when the instrument is unaccompanied. I have already contracted the concert artist Rick Parrell to play for this.
by Modern Songbook Records | Dec 15, 2013 | Film Scores, Gallery, News, TV Work
Actor/director Paolo Costanzo, who plays Evan R. Lawson on the USA Network series Royal Pains, needed a collaborator to bring to life his vision: a musical production number to cap a five-episode summer 2013 series on the show’s website. Working with composer/arranger/producer Charlie Barnett, Costanzo wrote and filmed “Shine,” a Disney-style musical daydream about a hotly contested village council election.
