I cannot believe Christmas is in so few days. I don’t have the Christmas tree up yet, I haven’t started Christmas shopping, in fact I don’t even have ideas for presents. I have been so busy I haven’t noticed it sneak up. Well this week I shall make the most of it. Spend too much time at the mall getting sick of Christmas carols in the shops. Spend too much money so I wish Christmas never came and spend all my time being festive and merry. Then at least come 26th December, I shall be happy Christmas came and went, and happy it will be 364 days until it happens again.On the music front, in the last few days have sent a piece in to a workshop and an application in to write a new orchestral piece. So more information on these as it arises.Bye for now, Ryan

Well well well, on the weekend my orchestra (www.nsjo.org.nz) had their end of year concert. It was fantastic. They sounded absolutely wonderful. They are 7-15 year olds and are very clever kids … but of course you never know how a concert is going to go. But gosh, couldn’t have hoped it to go better. Here are some photos: 

Ok well that was a horribly geeky title, but what the heck. Well you haven’t heard from me in a while … that’s because I’ve been engrossed in my new toy (…business asset). lol Yes after my entire life of being a PC user, I finally saw the light and purchased a new Apple MacBookPro. Wow, wow, wow. Just the look of it is enough to satisfy me, but it’s performance is amazing. I’ve been running Sibelius 5 on it and what a joy that is. I do everything I need to do in no time, then wonder if I have actually done it all cause seemed so completely stress free. lol I’m now Microsoft free which is great. Am using iWork in place of office. It seems far superior and is seamlessly compatible with office documents (on import AND export). So the point of this blog, is to, yes, encourage you all to see the light also.

Ok well I’m working on this film score at the moment, orchestrating it and a bit of arranging. Lol it is very … interesting. I’ve seen different scenes, heard stuff from the composer and seen the teaser website (www.chickencargo.com) – and after all of that I’m completely confused other than knowing it’s a sci-fi comedy. lol Anyway it’s going great and deadline now is January 2008 so things are going to step up a bit. Stay tuned.

 I’ve just confirmed the premiere of “Mei Spero� in Brazil early next year by the Sphera Ensemble. A specific date and venue is still being finalised but it should be a fantastic event. I’m adjusting the instrumentation slightly to suit the ensemble a little better. The original instrumentation of cor anglais, clarinet, horn, trombone, percussion, harp, viola, cello and double bass will now include some violins. Anyway, will post more details as soon as they are available.

Hey everyone, well last weekend was the final of the Auckland University Academy of Music for 2008, and perhaps as we know it. On Saturday was the actual last day, and then Sunday was a chamber music festival followed by the concert in the evening featuring the ensembles, percussion groups and orchestra. I was stage managing for the day to help out and was heaps of fun. Anyway next year they are completely changing the running of it and supposedly taking away the chamber music elements and small teaching classes such as musicianship, but keeping the orchestra and larger ensembles. Of course that is an absolute joke as those aspects are where people actually learn and develop. Anyway if that all goes ahead there will simply not be an Academy of Music anymore which is a big shame as it is/was such a fantastic resource for Auckland emerging musicians.

On a cheerier note, Trinity examinations are well into action once again. I am a supervisor for these exams and so am now out most days of the week until December. Some days are horrible and busy, but most are great and I can get a lot of my own work done which is FANTASTIC. Of course it’s great fun looking after the examiners as well – usually VERY English, delightful old men.

Oh and by the way coming up is the North Shore Junior Orchestra end of year concert and auditions for the 2008 orchestra. If you’re interested, or know of someone who may be, visit: www.nsjo.org.nz.

Hey all, I just spent a few hours updating to the new Wordpress software. It’s fantastic. Not sure if you can notice any difference from just reading the blog, but if you use the platform then I fully recommend the upgrade. Cya

Hey everyone,

Well it’s been school holidays over the last two weeks so have had LOTS of spare time on my hands. Last weekend we went down to Matamata and soaked in some hot pools and caught up with some family. Next week will be straight back into it with rehearsals and teaching.

Been spending (…a little…lol) time on Facebook. It’s awesome. lol I continually have to fight myself away from it but it’s great fun taking up all my spare minutes. Find me on Facebook here.

Have spent the last few days doing a few well needed updates to my website. Still “looks” the same but content and navigation is now all frightfully up to date. Hope you enjoy it.

Am in the last week of three weeks house sitting. It has been sooooooo good. This week we’re having various people over for dinner starting tonight so looking forward to that.

Coming soon … I’ll have details of my new compositions on the go.

Luke Di Somma, a friend of mine, has been accepted into the Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at New York University. He is based in Christchurch and is a fantastic composer and musical director and has many shows to his credit. You can check out his bio at his site, but my point is, for him to get to New York he needs $200,000. Yes, that’s correct. How is he going to get it? That is a very good question.

www.getluketonewyork.co.nz

Go check out his site and read up on all the awesome stuff he has been up to. If you happen to have a spare $200,000 sitting around then make sure you get in touch with him. If you don’t, he would still love to hear your support.

Bye for now, Ryan

Okay so I’m at the stage where a number of projects have now concluded … so what’s next? Well I had a good “getaway” on the weekend - definitely not a holiday though. We went on a two day tramp in the Hunua Ranges and now … I am VERY sore. lol Anyway was good to get out of the city for a bit.

So now I have numerous projects to get back to which I have been dying to get some time for over the last month or so. These include various compositions - some piano pieces, an orchestral work plus revisions to Rakaia and Guardians of the North. Also needing to finish a string arrangement for Rhian Sheehan which will hopefully be leading to some more work, and have another scene coming through to orchestrate from Scott Hunt.

So I’m looking forward to spending some good quality time on these projects over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for ongoing details.

Hey everyone, well this week one of my orchestras, the Kristin Symphonia, performed at the KBB Music Festival at the Auckland Town Hall. They did very well indeed. There was some interesting acoustic problems going on as the timpani especially was positioned so far away. Generally though they did extremely well … the first movement from Dvorak’s Ninth in particular was superb.

In the end we got a BRONZE award. A little way off gold (we’re saving that for next year) but we are very happy with the result, as it is the first time in the orchestra’s history that they have received an award at the Festival.

It was my first Festival of this type, so listening to the other orchestras and seeing how everything works makes me excited about the prospects for next year.

Here are some photos from the day of the premiere as Rakaia was given a final run through: (photos thanks to Neil Shepherd)

Everybody … almost.

Counting like crazy!!

GO CYMBAL GO!

Fantastic percussionists!!

Some of the brass!!

Me giving a few final comments!

Hmmm I look worried.

Well well well. This afternoon was the premiere of “Rakaia” and it went very well. I wasn’t playing in it so could really enjoy it. The percussion finally got it all together and sounding fantastic and the strings got (almost) all of their notes in. Everyone gets a little excited as it goes through … including the conductor, so the tempo pushed a little but overall it was fantastic and had heaps of great feedback from the audience.

Above is a photo of Auckland Symphony during the premiere.

By the way I just want to clarify … it said in the programme that I won the 2006 Young Composer Award. This was in fact not the case, I was commended at these awards. I hope no one is mislead by this. Not sure who wrote my programme bio up.

If any of those reading this went to the concert, I’d love to get your comments and feedback. Please send them through to me here.

I’m looking forward to next week’s concert at the Bruce Mason Centre. For details see the news.

Okay so as per my last entry, yes we spent a good amount of time on “Rakaia” on Wednesday night. It was fantastic. Everyone finally got their head around it (… it seemed so anyway). I think many of the players are not familiar with this sort of music, so it has taken a while for things to sit naturally. Technically it is not too challenging but things just do not sit as you may expect as a player. Anyway after that rehearsal I went home a happy composer.

Then … today was the final rehearsal. We ran it twice and it was FANTASTIC!! I am so pleased with how it is sounding. I’ve been pretty pedantic about how I want it, and only today I felt that all of that paid off. Of course on concert day (tomorrow), it will rise to another notch so I can’t wait.

By the way, if any of the members of Auckland Symphony are reading this, then THANK YOU so much. It is sound fantastic and I know a lot of personal practice and perseverance has gone into it. Many many thanks.

Stay tuned for how the premiere went.

Well we’ve have a few rehearsals now for “Rakaia”. It is definitely coming along nicely. Finally the percussion are getting into it so they are driving it which is fantastic. The violins are getting more notes in every time we play it as well. lol Anyway big rehearsal tonight where hopefully we will be spending heaps of time on it so looking forward to it. Stay tuned …

How exciting, Sibelius 5 has just been released. I have ordered my version.

WOAH exciting!!

Hey all … well just a quick note, we had first rehearsal of Rakaia on Monday night and it wasn’t too bad at all. We mainly just ran through it a few times to introduce to the players, so (fingers crossed) this week they will go home and practice as next week we’re pulling it to bits and REALLY rehearsing it. lol Musically everything worked very nicely, a few balance issues which we will fix next week. I’m waiting on a recording of this first rehearsal so will be good to have a listen of that too. Anyway will keep you posted.

Okay so over the last two months have had so much work coming in, I haven’t had a chance to post any blogs or in fact to much else at all. So what have I been doing?

Rakaia is a new piece I just finished last week for the Auckland Symphony Orchestra. It is for their “Rivers” concerts in August. For the dates and venues check out the news. The Rakaia river heads east from the Southern Alps here in New Zealand and reaches the sea just south of Christchurch. Thanks to my friend Wikipedia you can check out more details here. Anyway it was an interesting piece to write as the orchestra’s audience is not my usual type of audience. But anyway I ran through it all with the conductor Gary Daverne and he is happy so that’s good. Rehearsals start Monday night so will keep you posted. If you’re in Auckland on the concert dates, come along and I’d be so keen to get your post concert thoughts.

Chicken Cargo is an independent film based in Chicago. Scott Hunt is composing the score and I am orchestrating. The film is kind of a sci-fi comedy and the bits I’ve been seeing are quite good. We’re just finishing the opening scene at the moment and the whole “living on the other side of the world” thing is proving no problem at all. Anyway this is a long term project (film released mid ‘08) and so will I’m sure be posting regular updates on how everything is going.

North Shore Junior Orchestra is a second orchestra I have picked up. It is a junior orchestra and so will be heaps of fun. Have got our programme all sorted and am about to do a mailout which will kick us off for term 3. I’ve just updated their website here.

Have also had a heap of engraving work which isn’t too strenuous but is time consuming. So its good to have work flocking in, and with very little sleep I’m managing to get through it all. Woohoo.

I just listened to a podcast from Upbeat with Eva Radich called “The Emperor’s New Clothes?�. Many of you may have heard the original interview on Concert FM, but if not the podcast is available here. Anyway it was a debate between Eva and James Gardner (composer and 175 East director), both great people, about contemporary music. Specifically programming, programme notes, and it being inaccessible and hard for audiences, all in relation to last weekends’ concerts by 175 East and Stroma (NZ’s leading contemporary ensembles). It was quite a good listen and if any of you get a free chance then definitely give it some time.

The discussion about programme notes was around whether or not to have them and to what extent. Should music completely speak for itself or should it have a note to provide some insight? There was also debate as to whether a long programme note consisting of “semi-intellectual twaddle� does anything productive for the piece – a lot of technical words that really glorify the composers’ vocabulary and intellect rather than the musical meaning.

This lead to the point of the music itself being more an intellectual activity for the composer rather than it providing any emotional impact to the audience. Some may say that the music is too complex for the audience to understand. But it was asked what the point of this is. It is hard enough getting audiences to contemporary music concerts as it is, and are all these elements just making it harder? Have audiences moved on from this? Other modern music, that of John Psathas was mentioned, is very inclusive; it speaks for itself and always gets full houses. So question was asked as to why make it harder and harder for audiences to understand and enjoy contemporary music.

Of course this has always been a debate, and it was great to hear some spicy discussion on it again. Both 175 East and Stroma and their artistic directors do a fantastic job and do have many elements that help to draw the audience into the concert. I have been to many myself, and they are very enjoyable concerts. BUT I totally see Eva’s many points as very relevant. There is so much music that is far more “intellectual� for the composer than “emotional� to the audience (…not that it all has to be). I have been down that path myself, but have come out the other end. As a composer I think without any question the main goal is to affect the audience. The composers that primarily consider this are those that are most successful.

Anyway great debate, have a listen if you can. Bye for now!

Well NZ Music Month starts today!! Hope everyone gets out there and makes the most of it!! Click on the picture below and there is a BIG list of whats on, and links, and info, and … just go check it out!!

Hey guys, I’m now on Twitter … “what are you doing?”!

Check me out:

Ryan

Hey everyone. Well yesterday I sent off my master portfolio down to Wellington. All 56minutes and 147pages of music. The last week was a mad scramble, partly because I thought I had an extra month, but by the time I sent it off it looked really good. Had some FANTASTIC recordings on the CD and overall was really pleased. I’ll get some of these recordings on to my audio player and MySpace soon.

So what now?? Good question! Have got lots of jobs and things to be doing over the next two weeks such as making my new website, musicpreparationservices.com, and doing a report for Creative New Zealand for some funding I got a while ago. After that … not sure. It’s time to reevaluate things I think! Bye for now.

Hey again, just thought I’d give a plug for my Uncle’s Oratorio.

“The Living Word” by Christopher J. Archer

The Living Word is a work for choir, orchestra, organ and soloists. It was premiered in 1999 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland. It is a great piece of music and is being performed again at St Heliers Presbyterian this Easter. He has a short documentary on the original production at YouTube.

If you’re interested in more of Chris’ work or for more info on the Oratorio, let me know and I’ll pass on your interest.

Hey everyone, well if you’ve wondered where on earth I have got to over the last few weeks, I’ve entered turbo drive and have been working day and night on my Masters portfolio. I am SOO looking forward to getting it in. I’m just finishing off an orchestral piece “Ardor” and just have one other piece to finish. Still lots to do but everything seems to be on track.

By the way I got two more recordings of my pieces lately, so I’ll post them in the new player on the homepage and on MySpace. Haven’t even had a chance to listen to them yet but will do soon.

What else have I been up to? Good question … been working with my orchestra  - they are starting to sound really good, we have a two-day workshop in a few weeks which will be great. Am playing in an Oratorio (see the next post) and have been rehearsing with Auckland Symphony who are off to china in two weeks.
Anyway must get back to work.

Hey everyone, well after many hours of travelling and visiting people, we finally made it to Wellington. IT… IS… HOT…!! Oh my gosh it is hot. Not helped by the fact that we have MANY things to do around the city and how are we getting everywhere?? WALKING!! Anyway I shall get back on track:

Of course we are here for the Asia Pacific Festival and more importantly the premiere of my piece “Through my eyes, I hear”. In talking with the players in the last few weeks, Youri Jeon and Takumi Motokawa, I knew they were finding it hard. Of course, it is a hard piece. But I didn’t know what to expect at the first rehearsal. Anyway I got there and it was sounding FANTASTIC. We had another practice which also went really well, and got some good feedback from the players about the piece.

Then came concert day … today. This morning the piece fell apart in the dress rehearsal … just unorganised music etc, but that means a great performance right?? Indeed it does. The performance went really well. The odd place it got a little loose, but probably only I noticed. They got to the end and had a fantastic big finish. AWESOME!! Had some great feedback from people after the concert which of course was fantastic. Anyway I’ll do a post about the whole festival in a few days time.

cyas

Ryan

By the way … apologies about the lack of photos from my concert … I kind of forgot!!

Hey everyone, here goes a sum-up of this years summer school.

Before I start, anyone wondering what on earth I’m on about? The Opononi Music Summer School is for wind, brass and percussion players. We rehearse eight hours a day starting at 6am, then on the final night present a large concert of music for wind orchestra. I have been conducting there since 2006. It’s set at a great location at Omapere, in the Hokianga, Northland in New Zealand. Photo below:

Well as I’m sure most of you know, I was commissioned to write a new work for them this year. It was quite a workload, so at the beginning of the week I was lacking quite a lot of sleep. But thanks to the early ‘lights out’, I got back on track pretty quick. The first few days went as usual, rehearsing lots and lots of music. It was a little more relaxing this year as last year I took a tent up, but then a bad storm tore it to bits. So this year I slept inside and it was great.

It was interesting watching the development of my piece, Guardians of the North, with the players. The main point of the commission was really to introduce the players to new music, which almost all had not played before. So of course when they first saw the music, although it wasn’t too technically challenging, there were a few raised eyebrows. But we began by discussing it a lot and gradually everyone started to understand how things were working. By the end of the week they were really enjoying it, and they did a great job of giving its premiere.

For some reason, we seemed to run out of time this year. We got to friday and still had heaps of things we wanted to rehearse. But nevertheless, we made it to the concert and it sounded great. This year we recorded the concert live and have made a CD which I know a lot of the players are really excited about. In the concert we played popular classics like, Les Miserables, Star Wars: Phantom Menace Suite, and scores from other films, as well as works by Holst, Wagner, Faure and Bernstein.

Anyway it was another successful year. Below are a few photos, the first being a photo of everyone, the second being me conducting in the concert, and the last being a group shot from during the concert … sorry about the light quality in this last one.

Bye for now…

Hey everyone,

Thought I’d just let you all know what I’ve been reading up on lately and have got very interested in. … Online music marketing and promotion, specifically relating to indie artists. I’ve subscribed to two podcasts and read a few books all which I thoroughly recommend. Before I mention the podcasts, note that you can subscribe through going to the site or just find it through iTunes.

The first podcast is Online Music Marketing with Jay Moonah. He is based in Toronto and has so many great ideas, tips and guests which make his podcasts fantastic. Examples include search engine optimization for artist websites, financing and fan incentives, using flash and videos, through to using MySpace and last.fm, through to owning your own (web) destiny.

The second is Artist Empowerment Radio brought to you by Bob Baker. He is absolutely full of knowledge on many areas and is “dedicated to helping creative people of all kinds get exposure, connect with fans and increase their incomes through their artistic passions.” I’ll get to his books soon, but his podcast covers similar topics to Online Music Marketing, but also leans towards Artist Empowerment, such as feeling good about your music, taking action, growing your career etc.

I’ve also been reading some books that I’ve found very interesting and full of great stuff. Three by Bob Baker (all books and much more available here: www.bob-baker.com):

And one by David Nevue (lots of resources and book available here: www.musicbizacademy.com):

“How to Successfully Promote Your Music on the Internet”

I won’t go into the books too much cause the titles kind of explain it all, but they are all definitely worth a read. There definitely was alot of information in them that I already knew (as most people would find who have an established MySpace account … for example), but there were always many more exciting things to discover. Both their websites are full of articles and resources also, so definitely worth checking out.

Hey everyone,

Well it is a VERY good sign that I have not been able to keep on top of my holiday posts. Have been having a FANTASTIC holiday … and now am back in Auckland.

Spent a great Christmas and New Year in Feilding, venturing out on various day trips etc. MUCH better weather than that down in Dunedin. Had a reasonably quiet New Years, headed out with some friends and watched the concert/fireworks etc and had a great night.

Anyway now its back down to work on music. Hope everyone is well!! Ryan

PS: Have had some great comments regarding the website and blog, so thanks heaps guys.