Blog

DMA composers John Clay Allen, Zachary Patten, Sean Winters , presented world premieres using 8-channel sound, acoustic instruments, lights, and video. FRI 9/15 - SAT 9/16 at 8 pm at the Atlas Blackbox. Introducing, our brand new New-Music-Ensemble, the Boulder Altitude Directive, under the direction of maestro Carter Pann! (11/1...

The viola d’amore is a rare and mysterious instrument. Clues point to it arriving and evolving in Europe in the 17 th century from instrument designs originating in the Middle East, Anatolia, or India, but the exact details of its origins remain shrouded. Unusual characteristics include its set of sympathetic...

64-bit Finalists with Hsing-ay and Kevin We have our finalists for the fourth annual 64-Bit Competition! These pieces will be performed at the February 22nd, 2017 Pendulum@Atlas concert in the Atlas Black Box Theatre. The audience members will vote on the winner, so come support these wonderful artists and help...

It’s been a whirlwind year for composer Carter Pann. Since being named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his saxophone quartet “The Mechanics: Six from the Shop Floor,” Pann has been working on new chamber music, large ensemble pieces—even an homage to Ravel’s “Boléro.” And of course,...

When you’ve helped prolific composers such as Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman write film music, it’s probably safe to say you know a thing or two about what it takes to create a memorable and fitting score in Hollywood. You also know how challenging it is. Sam Estes (MM ’05)...

"I always loved this photo. It is from a series of photos of flowers that I did when Ai Weiwei was doing his #FlowersForFreedom Twitter campaign. You may recall that after his detention by the government his passport was confiscated for a few years. #FlowersForFreedom was part of his effort...

Mondays, 2:00 pm, refreshments following Imig Music Building, C-199 (Chamber Hall) Those who enjoyed Steven Bruns’s CU on the Weekend presentation in November, on Crumb’s Apparition, may also enjoy the following presentation, by two DMA students. March 6, 2-3 pm – Zachary Patten and Michiko Theurer, University of Colorado Boulder...

Program Note- flowchart_I (2017) flowchart_I is part of a larger cycle of multichannel electro-acoustic compositions that all deal with the mapping of data derived from systems and organism characterized by flow. flowchart_I is particular in that it is not based on statistical or empirical data sets, it reflects on recent...

On the upcoming Pendulum concert, happening February 22nd, composer and laptop virtuoso Sean Winters will be controlling Ableton (Audio) & Max for Live (Visual) with a Launchpad, a Nanokontrol, and an X3D Joystick. When asked about the work, he explained: "I once came across an Aaron Copland quote about a...

For me, writing music can sometimes feel like a constant question of WHO AM I. Some pieces feel like battlegrounds, where identity asserts itself against all odds. Others are floating dreams, unconcerned and unaffected, identity trailing lightly behind. Others still, I am changed by the end. This piece was hard...