Recalling a few moments from this past week spent in Chicago.
1) Losing my breath upon hearing Jessie's recent string trio, Streetlights, for the first time in rehearsal- a neutral catalogue of instrumental combinations rendered such that it articulates a stunningly expressive harmonic landscape.
2) A narrow beam of sunlight at dusk dividing the performance space diagonally during the first half hour of II. resonant titles on light..., as the high harmonic Ryan pulls out of the bell he is bowing bounces off the opposite wall.
3) The shortest chord in Ryan's epiphyllum oxypetalum-- watching Zachary, Min, Lia, and Myra proceed onwards -- feeling very suddenly comfortable sitting on my cushion, no longer compelled to think about what I was hearing.
4) Periodically entering into the dramatic space of Jessie's I did not see it to the end- music I've wanted to perform since first hearing it 4 or so years ago. In between run-throughs, remembering scavenging for detritus with Jessie amongst wintery Ohio shrubbery when she was working on the piece in 2011. A real joy to re-inhabit that space with Jade and Ryan.
Many thanks, in addition to those already mentioned above, to Ryan Manuel Zerna, Kate Shuldiner, Rachel Ellison, and David Zuchowski. And especially to Ryan Packard for his tireless advocacy of music and community.