The “Muse Room” is the room in my house where I make music and my wife makes visual art. Published the first Monday of the month, each issue of Letters from the Muse Room will include news and updates about my music, as well as something that has inspired me creatively over the past month.
Dear friends,
Welcome to the first-ever edition of Letters from the Muse Room! I’m excited to launch this newsletter and for you to come along for the ride.
What’s the “Muse Room”?
The Muse Room is the room in my house where I make music and my wife makes visual art — more than just a “music room” (though not less!). My desk has a computer, a pair of speakers, usually a couple of sheets of manuscript paper and almost always a cup of tea.
So what have you been up to? You haven’t emailed us in ages.
I know… sorry! But this time will be different, I promise!
Here’s a snapshot of some things that happened in 2018:
• I wrote a piece for singer/songwriter and chorus with Melanie Penn, called A Journey of Becoming, which she performed with Tyler Wigglesworth’s West Covina High School choirs in California and New York City — one movement of which was performed in Carnegie Hall!
• My piano piece Five Scenes won first prize in the Belvedere Chamber Music Festival Composition Contest, and I got to visit Memphis, attend the festival and hear my piece performed by the wonderful pianist Perry Mears!
• My wife and I had a second baby!
So what’s next?
I have some compositions on tap I’m excited to work on in 2019, including a piece for speaking chorus (no pitches, just speaking and sound effects!), an orchestral piece, and a couple of other possibilities. I’ll be setting up an official self-publishing company to sell scores from my website, and working toward securing further performances of my music. (If you’re interested in performing my music, reply to this email and let me know!) And I’ll be publishing monthly Letters from the Muse Room to keep you posted and share something that has inspired me creatively over the past month.
Yeah, what’s that about?
I wanted to share something with you each month besides just what’s happening with my music — something that’s sparked inspiration in me, whether it’s someone else’s music, a painting, a story, or something completely outside the arts. Something I could show you and say “Hey, this is cool — you should check it out.”
So what inspired you this last month?
Actually, I was inspired to recreate my email newsletter by the email newsletter of another composer. I first learned about Dale Trumbore when my choral piece A Magic Like Thee was chosen by The Singers in St. Paul, Minnesota as a winner of their composition competition; she was another of the winners. I didn’t get to meet her, unfortunately, as I had another premiere on the night of their performance. But I started to follow her online, and since then she’s become one of my best examples to follow for promoting music online and connecting with an audience. Her monthly email newsletter is called poempiecepost; every month she shares a poem (she’s primarily a choral composer), a recording of a piece of hers, and a post — an essay or blog post that she’s written. It’s an excellent format, always interesting, and I always look forward to receiving the next poempiecepost. If you like choral music, I highly recommend giving her a follow!
daletrumbore.com
twitter.com/daletrumbore
To sign up for poempiecepost: poempiecepost.com
Peace,
AJ Harbison