Trombones and Translation at the Janacek Academy

Today began with guest teaching a morning class on the interpretation of notation at the Janacek Academy. Since the first two students came in hauling their trombones, I elected at the last minute to show them slides of Monique Buzzarte's custom-built interface that we used for the piece I wrote for her, The Left Side of Time, and then to demonstrate some of the notational solutions for that piece. Later I gave a seminar for composition faculty and student composers, concerning my attitude toward composition, and then analyzing Transfiguration, my work for soprano, flute, harp, and percussion. My excellent translator, Jareck, even tackled the intertextual commentaries woven into the Djuna Barnes poem that forms the centerpiece of the composition. The reward this evening: frothy glasses of Czech beer shared with Jaroslav Stastny-Pokorny (not in photo), Marketa Dvorakova, and the Dean of the Music School, Ivo Medek. Na zdravi!