These last couple weeks have been pretty exciting. Nadar ensemble put together a few live virtual concerts (the first ever in its history) featuring Stefan Prins’ FITTINGinSIDE for trombone, video conference and walking tour. This is a piece that has been in my repertoire for at least 3 years, but I have never been able to perform for so many people participating from some many different parts of the world. We had audience members from Seattle to Tel Aviv and from Latvia to Columbia. It was wonderful to play live concerts again and we even got a nice review in the New Yorker, written by Alex Ross: The bleeding together of these experiences was grippingly disorienting.

Here is a link, if you would like to read the whole article: Musicians and Composers Respond to a Chaotic Moment.

I also was asked by Jelle Dierckx, of Lunalia Festival in Mechelen, Belgium to represent his festival in a really cool initiative called Festivals for Compassion:

“With Festivals for Compassion festivals around Europe express their solidarity in these times of Corona by presenting a new solo composition by the Greek-Dutch composer Calliope Tsoupaki. Each festival selects their own artist and instrument. The piece will be premiered on the Dutch NPO Radio 4 on 20 June, with the Flemish Klara taking over the next day.  After this, like a relay race of compassion, the work will begin its journey through Europe travelling from festival to festival, and will be shared online.”

I played the piece on Euphonium and recorded it in Onze Lieve Vrouw over de Dijle, a beautiful church in Mechelen.

For the first time in its 14-year existence, Nadar has organized a virtual concert. As a member of this cool group of adventurous musicians, I not only get to help make this happen, but I once again get to perform Stefan Prins’ solo work for Trombone, Walking, Soundtrack and Conference Call, titled FITTINGinSIDE.

We will do it twice, first on the 6th of June, orgainized by deSingel and Concertgebouw Brugge and then again on the 13th of June. If you’d like to join us on the 13th, please sign up via this Google Form: Nadar Virtual Concert. The concert starts at 20:30 European Central Time.

Hope to see you there!

This weekend I once again get to work with the incredibly ambitious and talented Guitar Ensemble from the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. We will preform Michael Maierhof’s Zonen 6 for guitar orchestra (18 prepared guitars!) at Hamburg’s “Klub Katarakt.” Sponges, plastic cups, fishing wire, acoustic guitars: It’s going to be great. So if you are in town, come have a listen: Klub Katarakt Program

And for those of you who would really like to prepare for the concert, here’s a link to a recently published article I wrote about the piece: Conducting Silence

The first concert trip of the year begins next Tuesday with a trip to Esslingen, Germany. There I get to play Pierre Jodlowski‘s awesome and somewhat creepy OUTERSPACE with Nadar Ensemble as part of our “Doppelgänger” program. We’ve been invited to present this program at tonArt Esslingen, a festival for contemporary music.

We play at 8 pm on the 16th of January in the Kulturzentrum Dieselstraße. If you are in the neighborhood, come check it out!

I have been lucky enough in the past couple months to have some of my articles published. Last school year, I started a PhD in the Arts at the University and Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. The first year was spent analyzing and researching six exemplary pieces. So if you are looking for some Christmas reading, two of those studies have now been published. Follow the links below:

Conducting Silence: The use of conducted and measured silences in Michael Maierhof’s Zonen 6 for guitar orchestra (2007–2008, 2018), in Forum+ Online, Fall 2019 edition

Like Clockwork: John Cage’s Concert for Piano and Orchesta, in Hands-On, 2019

Enjoy!

Cage: Concert for Piano and Orchestra

Featuring: The Students of the Nadar Summer Academy #9, Thomas R. Moore and Special Guests

This Wednesday: at the 2nd annual Articulate Research Festival in Antwerp, Belgium

2 performances: 16:50 & 17:45

Venue: Royal Academy of the Fine Arts in Antwerp

Location: De Tempel

It’s Free!

See you there!

I am thrilled to have been able to play my own small part in this cool new piece by Óscar Escudero and performed so brilliantly by Wim Pelgrims! Bravo to you both and all those involved. I hope this piece gets played many times.

Over the course of six weeks, Nadar will have presented six programs in five venues. Starting in the middle of August we presented the works of composers who participated in the 2nd Nadar Summer School at deSingel in Antwerp, Belgium. We then held our annual (number 9!) Nadar Summer Academy for young performers in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. Then it was off to Gaudeamus Muziekweek in Utrecht, The Netherlands for two shows in the first week of September. Last weekend we played three concerts in the Sint-Jakobskerk in Ghent for the great OdeGand festival. And lastly, during the final weekend of September, we are off to Musica Strasbourg to present one of my personal favorites, our Doppelgänger Deluxe program.

What a great way to start the season!

Last week I got to spend some time with some incredible and inspirational young performers at the annual Nadar Summer Academy for young performers put on by Matrix [Centre for New Music]. We coached them on works by Alexander Schubert and John Cage and they impressed us with their own creations, a miniature opera and a new composition for trio by Benjamin Windelinckx. It was a wonderful week. 

I personally got to dive deeper into Cage’s challenging and confrontational “Concert for Piano and Orchestra.” With the musicians, we explored Cage’s score and created our own version with no less than 4 pianists! The parcours and finger (not to mention elbow, head, knees, palms, noses, and pelvis) work those guys and gal pulled off made quite the show. Luckily we get to do it again. In October you find us at the Articulate Festival in Antwerp, Belgium.

As this exciting and varied season begins to draw to its close, I’ll be headed off to Finland and the Time of Music festival to once again suit up and take on Stockhausen’s masterpiece Signale zur Invasion & Oktophonie together with Klaas Verpoest, video, and Patrick Delges, sound (from Centre Henri Pousseur.) We are thrilled to be taking part in this great festival and even more excited to play a role in the opening festivities.

Here is a link to the show.

Here is a link to the teaser.