that’s right, i got engaged yesterday. my beautiful bride-to-be is a soprano, so i’ll have a guinea pig that i can test out some choral music on. there’s another reason that i want to marry her, but i’m sure i’ll remember it soon…

this winter, a group of students at doane college met for an interterm class on animation. their major project was the creation of an animated video set to the music of “Tuo Edisni (The Caktak March)”. You can check out the final product at youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2KYfTsHSDE.

well, not really an interview, but definitely a view. doane college contacted me this summer to do a photo shoot and talk to me about my time there. of course, being the narcicist i am, i said yes, and the result can be found here: http://impact.doane.edu/Doane/ben. read the rest of this entry »

it’s not here yet, but i do have projects going.

i’ve just finished ”A Sister’s Wedding Blessing” for my friend susan silverman’s sister’s wedding. she wrote the words and sang me a tune and asked me to write it out for her. a challenging assignment, but definitely worth it.

this december doane college will be performing ralph vaughan williams’ “Fantasia on Christmas Carols” and they’ve asked me to arrange it for them. this will be a much more involved project than my work on the macdowell second concerto.

also, i’ve started working on an expansion of Fanfare and Proclamation that may turn into another movement in a series or maybe even a real boy. Septo is also on its way to becoming a “composition” and band camp has started, so i need to get back to work!

the rumors are true: i am gainfully employed. here’s the story:

monday night at play practice i felt like crap, so i went to bed at about 10:30 tuesday morning i woke for my 10:00 weight training class promptly at 1:15. my state not much improved, i looked around for my phone, discovering that i had conveniently put it on vibrate, causing me to miss a handful of phone calls. one of them just so happened to be from the principal of fillmore central high school, asking if i would be able to come in for an interview. excited, i rushed to my computer to email him, informing him of my ill state and telling him of my interest.

tuesday night student congress finally declared stop day. if you aren’t familiar with stop day, it boils down to this: classes are cancelled for the following day and shenanigans ensue. so that means i have a full day to recover, right? instead i call mr. rose and he asks if i am able to interview on wednesday. of course i am, and 9:00 isn’t too early at all…

so i go to bed early, praying that i don’t die overnight. i don’t. the interview goes great; so great, in fact, that they offer me the job on the spot. that makes me the new band director and fillmore central public schools, thus confirming the rumors. bk-s for the win.