Recent music #8 - East40

For this edition…

we will explore the music I’ve been working on for my artist-in-residency project at the East40. This has been a very fulfilling and meaningful project for me and I’m excited to share a draft of my work. This draft was performed at a concert in Bethlehem, PA just this past week and features an improvised rendition of the material I have accumulated during my residency.

First, a little about the East40. From their website…

Our Story

The dream of the East 40 community – since its inception in September 2010 – is to create and foster a welcoming space for place-based learning.

With the dedication of NCC’s students, faculty and staff, and members of the larger community, East 40 has grown to embrace that dream. With a tranquil setting that includes meadows, gardens, and forest, it not only offers a natural environment but one that offers space to honor hand-crafting and the creative process. Sustainability is a theme that centers all we do, and the study of food plays a vital role in linking together our varied efforts.

The twin concepts of justice and equity provide for a valuable mindset for our participants and partners, and the shared lens by which we process and understand our work.

There are so many things I’d like to explore about the East40 and to have them showcased in my work. Spending times on the grounds has shown me moments of symmetry, whimsy, utility, austerity, poetry, art…there’s so much! As I work through my process, I hope to embody these things in my music.

The first bit of music I’ll share is perhaps the most complete. It stems from an improvisation I did on the grounds of the East40 at some point this summer. The beginning material is straight from the improvisation and the song that follows emerged after a few hours of exploration at home. This section feels like the foundation of the project.

Part 2 of the piece emerged from some of the explorative process that gave me part 1 and the song at the core of that section. I posted a draft of everything on Instagram a few months ago that leaned more heavily on the material in part 2. As a compositional device, this section is in E minor, the relative minor of G major, which was the tonal center of part 1.

Last (for now), is part 3. This is the least complete idea and mostly an improvisation on a chord progression I first improvised on the grounds of the East40. This chord progression is hinted at in parts 1 and 2 but is finally revealed more completely in part 3. Perhaps obvious, there’s a pretty clear “Debussy vibe” to this improvisation.

This project has been a wonderful experience thus far and I look forward to continuing to explore the music on a deeper level. One thing I have tried to do with this experience is to ignore the negative voices that usually riddle my creative process. Nature simply exists and does not ask for or impose anything upon us. Sometimes, we look to make use of the land as if it needs our imposition to gain value. This, of course, is not true at all. This is also true of ourselves and our creativity. This is something that was impressed upon me by the grounds of the East40.