Special Guest

Ok, so I've been a bad little blogger. It has been four days since my last entry, but that's just because I am very busy and having fun. 

Much to tell. First, I've been working away on my clips and am glad to say I have both of them timed, mapped, and ready for music. My initial worry of having too busy a schedule has been extinguished. Don't get me wrong, there is still a whole lot to do, but the directors of the program have proven to be very sensitive to our needs in terms of composing time. They gave us Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday to get intimate with our cues and compose. Awesome. 

It turns out we do have a very high-profile guest in residence with us here in Aspen for two weeks - Jack Smalley (Charlie's Angels, Murder She Wrote, The Love Boat). If you check out his website, you'll see he is a ridiculously accomplished composer/orchestrator who also happens to be on the faculty of the Film Scoring Program at USC (the most renown, successful, and prestigious program of its kind). Today was our first session with him and I can already vouch for his tremendous character and wealth of knowledge. I can't even fathom what the next two weeks will bring. 

Finally, as a student at the Aspen Music Festival, I get free admission to the plethora of concerts that go on here (at least one per day). Last night I saw the Takács Quartet perform a phenomenal program that included the Piano Quintet in F minor by César Franck, a mind-blowing composition. Afterwards I went with a group of people to New York Pizza, a delicious and affordable little dive downtown. Funny how I had to come to Aspen to experience really great New York pizza... Tonight I will be going to see Joshua Bell perform Ravel's Tzigane (a piece I've not heard) among others with the Aspen Chamber Orchestra. Needless to say, life here in Aspen is good!