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As the end of my six-year stay in San Francisco draws near, the past finds its way to the present, as memories of life experienced here come to the surface. San Francisco has taught me a great deal about life and art, and the lessons learned here will certainly be taken wherever I go in the future.

I will miss its charm, its beauty, its arts scene, its warm embrace of people from all walks. Most of all, I will miss my friends, teachers, and fellow music-makers who call this place “home.”

Luckily, there’s so much to which I am looking forward, as I embark on an exciting journey, turning the page to a new and pivotal chapter. The University of Oregon is my destination, where I have been offered some incredible opportunities. I will be teaching a Finale notation course, working as a T.A. for beginning aural skills classes, and doing some directing of the two new music ensembles at the university.

Beyond Oregon, my music is finding its way to the east coast via Choral Chameleon, which will premiere three works throughout its 2009-2010 season: Sempiterna in its entirety on November 1 (in addition to a performance of Giant Mirror), a new Christmas work on December 12, and a large work for chorus, soloists, piano 4 hands, harp, percussion, and a melodic instrument on April 18. Another east coast performance will take place at the National Collegiate Choral Organization’s Third Conference at Yale University on November 5, where Vance George will conduct a multi-school choir in a performance of “In pace” from Sempiterna.

On the compositional back-burner are some exciting projects, which promise to lead to future premieres. Nearing completion is a temporarily-untitled violin sonata, written for my good friend, Valerie Tung, a Seattle-based violinist. I plan to write a chamber symphony for the Eugene Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, which will include Can’t Sit Still as a movement. For another good friend, Brett Banducci, a Los Angeles-based composer and violist, I will be writing a piece for solo viola and electronics, to be premiered/performed in Los Angeles and Oregon.

Taking a glimpse at the future, there’s a lot to look forward to!

Now looking back to the recent past, the highlight of the summer was the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, at which I met exceptionally talented and friendly composers, conductors, and performers. Though I was present for only six days due to a professional commitment, the experience affected me deeply on personal and artistic levels.

Can’t Sit Still was featured on one of the Symposium concerts, performed by the American Creators Ensemble, conducted by Scott J. Ordway. Because I had to leave the festival early, I unfortunately missed the premiere of the piece. I’m happy to say I got my hands on the recording, which may be listened to by pushing the play button below:

This collection of performers did an incredible job with my rather difficult composition. In fact, they premiered 72 new works over the course of the Symposium, and they deserve a medal for such a staggering achievement! Thanks to all.

Looking back, looking forward, it all gives evidence to the fact that I have so many reasons to be grateful. These past six years in San Francisco, and the next four in Oregon, will combine to form a truly exceptional decade.

Having said all of that, it’s time to say good bye, San Francisco. Thank you for everything.

My soul is overflowing with radiant joy, tingling excitement, and sheer awe in gratitude for life. This past academic calendar year is numbered as one of the most fulfilling and redeeming of my 30 years here on earth; and for that, my soul is teeming with the kind of delight that words only cheapen when attempting a description.

These sentiments have made their way into my most recent composition, most appropriately entitled, Can’t Sit Still. I wrote this piece for the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, a summer festival that I will soon be attending. I was instructed to write a piece for a chamber ensemble consisting of these instruments: flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, percussion, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, and contrabass. One might consider this configuration to be a chamber orchestra, but the intention behind my writing supports an ensemble of soloists. Can’t Sit Still will be premiered by the American Creators Ensemble on 5 July 2009 (more info. at the foot of this post).

On Monday, June 15, I realized that my June 22 deadline was only a week away. “What to write about? What to…write…about…?” Nothing came to mind. Tuesday arrived, and I still had nothing on paper. With only six days to write, orchestrate, engrave, and submit a clean score and set of parts, time was of the essence. So I just wrote with no specific parameters in mind, except that I wanted it to be fun and spirited.

Without the preoccupation of a story or a concept, the resulting composition still managed to sum up the sentiments mentioned in the beginning of this post. It seems my subconscious is more involved in the creative process than I am aware.

I just feel so incredibly fortunate. I am able to live my life as a composer, write music for ensembles with guaranteed performances, travel around and meet new people. How can I not feel ecstatic?

And so, without further ado, I present to you my latest composition, Can’t Sit Still, as performed by Sibelius 5.2 music notation software (i.e. MIDI).

Here’s info. about the world premiere performance:

Sunday, 5 July 2009 @ 8pm
Composers Symposium ACE Concert 3
American Creators Ensemble
Beall Concert Hall, Univ. of Oregon

For further information: [click]

On 25 April 2009, Andrew Mogrelia conducted the SFCM Orchestra in the world premiere performance of my orchestral work, The Long Valley. As they performed it, I nervously stood in the back of the concert hall and relished in the experience. It is not everyday that a composer receives a live performance of her/his orchestral composition, so I savored every second of this unique experience.

I consider The Long Valley to be my first orchestral piece, even though, technically, I have written two others, in addition to orchestrating piano works by Brahms, Debussy, etc. for orchestration classes. Yet, The Long Valley is a benchmark composition for me in terms of what it does artistically within an orchestral framework. I think of my other orchestral pieces as student compositions fulfilling educational demands, rather than artistic ones.

The rehearsal process began only two weeks ahead of the concert. Maestro Mogrelia asked me to run a woodwind sectional, which was scary and fun! A couple days later, the orchestra read through the piece, and did so very well. Two more short rehearsals ensued, and then it was time for the performance. I was impressed by how well the orchestra did, despite a limited amount of rehearsal time.

As the piece came alive throughout this process, I began to understand that some of the orchestration is flawed, and needs some tweaking and attention to detail. For instance, as the brass make their way into the texture in the middle of the piece, the woodwinds are drowned out. Also, as the piece leads to the climax, the texture thickens too soon, and dulls the primary role of the trumpets and horns. Further, when the original theme comes back toward the end, the orchestration lacks the gentle tenderness I was hoping to achieve.

I’ve already begun the task of editing the orchestration, and plan to make it more presentable to professional orchestras by reducing the forces a bit. I hope to enter it into several competitions, so we’ll see how that goes.

All in all, I am overwhelmingly grateful and honored to have been selected for this performance, and I still can’t believe it happened. Luckily, I have proof in the form of a recording, which is available below for your listening pleasure. Be sure to use a good pair of headphones if your computer speakers aren’t so great.

Thank you Andrew Mogrelia, the SFCM Orchestra, Jim Highsmith & Robert Marberger, and the entire SFCM community for this great opportunity. And thank you David Conte for guiding me along from 2003 ’til now, and my parents for their support and encouragement.






The Long Valley by Jeffrey Parola
San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra
Andrew Mogrelia, conductor