I’m really happy to announce that I will be spending a 3-week residency this summer at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony in the beautiful Temecula Valley, California! I’m over the moon happy since this will be the first time I have ever attended an artist’s residence. As a Canadian musician, it is sort of a rite of passage to do a residency at Banff, but I simply have never gotten around to it at this point in my life (although I am looking forward to doing that at some point in the future).
Dorland is going to be an inspiring setting to compose a sequel to my solo piano composition, Earth Hour. ‘Earth Hour 2’ (as it’s appropriately called) is going to be another 60-minute piece for piano, but this time incorporating the sounds of the beautiful natural setting that is the Temecula. Thanks to technology, all I need is a little hand-held recorder, my laptop, a little MIDI keyboard, and some headphones and I can edit audio and compose and score the piano part simultaneously.
Another perk is that our cottage at Dorland houses a grand piano! So if I finish composing the piece prior to the 3 weeks, I can start practicing. March 2020 will be the 10th anniversary of the release of the original Earth Hour so the timing to compose this summer, record it later this year and release it then is absolutely perfect.
I feel so honoured that the folks at Dorland accepted my application. The pics on their site are awe-inspiring and I know that this will be the perfect setting to spark wonderful musical ideas. I can’t wait!!
