This year pulled all of our attention in so many different directions with each new situation we found ourselves living. Breen is a friend of mine who I haven't yet met. I haven't had the chance to meet him yet because every day of his young life so far has been spent fighting to stay here with us - fighting for breath. When it was time to think about bells, drones, and melodies to fill his spirit and strengthen his resolve to stay around, that became an unexpected but immediate artistic priority. Please enjoy one of a set of improvisations for my new friend Breen. Listen to it to find peace, calm, and breath.
This is a produced recording of Elizabeth DeLamater's new snare drum solo "Translations" It was performed by Scott Farkas as part of his first virtual DMA recital at the University of Washington in June of 2021. The piece itself interprets, represents, and presents many rhythms tied to the the composer's close relationship with drumming styles from West Africa. It is definitively a snare drum solo - but it calls out for dance, song, and community in its performance. Hopefully many will play this and spread the joy of making music together across instruments, cultures, and physical distances as this performance had to during the school year influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks for watching!
This is a recording of the new piece "Memory Chain and Lullaby" composed by Danny Clay. The original conception of this piece was for marimba solo with the marimbist choosing moments to hum throughout the piece, though this realization involves 67 recordings of highschool, college, and community musicians choosing moments to hum and express what they hear within the music. the piece was performed and recorded by Scott Farkas as part of a DMA percussion recital at the University of Washington in June of 2021. Garrett Arney generously shared his conception of the visual element for this piece. Please enjoy this recording and sing along to it with any community you find yourself in.
This is a realization of Sarah Hennies’ 2015 piece "Flourish" for vibraphone 2 players. It was completed by Scott Farkas in June of 2021 as part of a DMA recital project at the University of Washington. This project, along with many others that year, was impacted by the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally the piece was planned to be realized by two percussionists, but logistics and distance constraints prevented that from becoming reality. The piece was then realized digitally by one performer alone, performing, recording, mixing, and editing both parts of the piece. The work on this project allowed for great musical thought, and growth. This project also represents a significant moment of growth in terms of recording and editing audio for the performer. All of the visual elements were constructed by recording visualizations from the ProjectM visualizer then editing them together with other video editing software. This piece offers a meditative opportunity to spend time living within sound and harmonic textures for extended periods of time, and to consider the juxtaposition of contrasting structural musical elements. Please enjoy this realization of "Flourish" by Sarah Hennies, and thanks for listening!