AN ECONOMY OF MEANS (2016)
FOR PREPARED VIBRAPHONE
30 minutes
Program Notes
An Economy of Means is a kind of companion piece to my trio An Index of Possibility. In Index I used a wide range of materials—glass, metal, wood, ceramic, drums, toys, found objects—to create a large form that moved between distinctive worlds within a broad sonic palette. With An Economy of Means I’ve done the opposite, deliberately using one instrument, the vibraphone, and forcing myself to make the most out of limited resources. With a few simple preparations—tin foil, a manilla folder—and judicious usage of the vibraphone’s natural properties, I tried to build something vast and varied, as broad and ambitious as the trio but in a narrower, more focused context. Set in six movements, the nearly thirty minute piece doesn’t have a specific narrative. Even so, I think there is always a sense of motion, of drifting from space to space, with little dramas unfolding along the way.
An Economy of Means was commissioned by Doug Perkins and a consortium of Alumni of The Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale Percussion Seminar, including: Matthew Bimstein, Robby Bowen, Aaron Butler, Heather Church, Sean Harvey, Brandon Ilaw, David Irving, Niek Kleinjan, Aaron Levy, Michael Mazzullo, Ian McCollum, Taylor Mosher-Davis, Stephen Seymour, Melanie Voytovich, Amy Garapic, Ben Fraley, Evan Laybourn, David Abraham, Peter Ferry, Jeff Stern, Dustin Patrick, Kyle Flens, Pedro Carneiro, Adam Lion, Tyler Tolles, Doug Perkins, Michael Hardin, Makayla Phillips, Scott Strickland, Matthew Duvall, Rose Martin, Danielle Moreau, Nick Bolchoz, Neil Rao, Cameron Leach, Garett Mendelow, Shelly Purdy, James Deluca, Jake Harpster, and Glenn Kotche. It was Premiered July 8, 2016 by Amy Garapic at the Chosen Vale Percussion Seminar, Enfield, NH.
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Recent Performances
December 10, 2022 Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Hannah Newsome.
July 28-30, 2022 MASS North Adams, MA. Doug Perkins.
May 27, 2022 Conrad Prebys Music Center Experimental Theater, UC, San Diego, CA.
May 20, 2022 St. Paul’s Conservatory of Music, Council Bluffs, IA. Hannah Weaver.
May 7-9, 2022 Array Music, Toronto, ON, Canada. Emergensies Collective.
April 24, 2022 University of Toronto, Canada. Samuel Kerr.
April 24, 2022 Irving Park Lutheran Church, Chicago, IL. Kyle Flens.
April 16, 2022 Evergreen, SUNY Stony Brook, NY. Matthew Overbay, Christian Zavala.
April 8, 2022 Princeton, NJ. Elijah Shina.
March 31, 2022 Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX. Hayden Gish.