(2/2) Hundreds (I believe!) of SeaBus passengers exiting Lonsdale Quay create this titillating soundscape with audible turnstiles firing nonstop!

#soundscape #electroacoustic #composer #contemporaryclassical

I did #fieldrecording work during my #MacDowellResidency last month. There's this forest, water, wind, owls hooting - beautiful #soundscapes. But there's also airplane traffic above, zooming vehicles far away. Human sounds encroach on seemingly remote spaces. A teacher would describe it as the encroachment of colonial modernity on ancestral lands. Even musical action is human intervention. But sifting through this patchwork is a composition exercise.

#electroacoustic #composer #artistresidency

It's been 10 days since I left MacDowell. I was awarded a MacDowell Fellowship, which brought me a very productive four-week #ArtistResidency there. (A five-day Vancouver stay followed for another upcoming project in June). I jumpstarted a couple of musical projects - five commissioned pieces, in fact! - during my stay, with premieres set in Europe for 2026/2027. Thank you, MacDowell!

#macdowell #Composer #contemporarymusic #contemporaryclassical #electroacoustic #AcousmaticMusic #spatialmusic

The #tradewar has started. 😖

My MacDowell #ArtistResidency starts in April, but I'm very conflicted with crossing the US border. It's tempting to diss it and prepare for the upcoming recession instead. But I'm Filipino-turned-Canadian who once exchanged dreams for third-world practicalities. It's a great disservice to myself if I sabotage professional prospects as big as MacDowell. Ugh Grumpy Kitty Boy needs his milk to calm down...c'est tout 100% Canadien. 😹 #contemporaryclassical #composer

I cast my vote today because I'm flying out tomorrow on Election Day! Grumpy Kitty Boy 😼 also voted, so it's an extra vote...

...Uhhh whut? You say paw prints 🐾 don't count as valid votes??? 😾 I wanna speak to your manager...🤡

(Kidding aside, go out there, Ontario! Time to shoo the dougie out. 😾)

My latest Musicworks magazine feature for Winter 2025 (# 150) takes a two-page glimpse at what I call the "parallel multiverses" of Canadian composer Kalaisan Kalaichelvan. Dancing the bharatanatyam, playing classical piano and flute, doing cancer research at a Toronto hospital, and writing scores for numerous films - he has now switched gears into a career as a composer of concert stage music.

Get your copy: https://musicworksmag.myshopify.com/

#ContemporaryClassical #Composer #MagazineFeature #Journalism

In a cozy, little corner--
I scoop up squiggles on paper
And bash them into blue screens,
Casting permanent markings...
And yet I don't seek attention;
A quieter year is my resignation.

Trade wars vanish like a gaslit craze;
And yet my poor heart dissolves into rage.

Sunday matcha and mango milk teas repress
The past long decade, I still find utter meaningless
While the world turns around like there's nothing amiss.

#poem #poetry #ContemporaryClassical #composer #melancholia