Author: Ralph Lewis, Composer

I am playing a bit of catch up on recent news, but one meaningful highlight was presenting the paper talk version of my dissertation research about Aaron Cassidy’s Second String Quartet at Society of Composers Inc.’s National Conference. It means a great deal to have had this opportunity to share about Cassidy’s work and my research about it after spending years developing my doctoral dissertation.

This last Saturday afternoon New Music Mosaic held concerts in Urbana, IL and Boston, MA. As part of this, saxophonist Wilson Poffenberger and percussionist Matt Carey premiered my “exhaustion in days of fury”–a work that I had begun a handful of years ago. I am so grateful for their effort and creativity. My piece begins at just before the 8 minute mark in this YouTube video of the livestream.

Recently All Score Urbana, an community engagement workshop program I founded in 2016, received another year of grant funding from the City of Urbana’s Arts and Culture Commission. More information about the free-to-the-public program, how to participate, and a sign-up sheet on this website are forthcoming. The program will begin in October 2022.

Teaching artists pianist/composer mezzo-soprano ShayLyssa Alexander, Dr. Michael McAndrew, jazz trombonist/composer/arranger Peter Tijerina, and I (I’ll be handling composition/theory/music technology) will be leading a series of events in the fall, beginning with a compose-a-thon event and concert in partnership with Rose Bowl Tavern. Workshops will then be offered to further build on those works, new works, or other already-in-progress works at Faith United Methodist Church, culminating in a performance and recording of all participants’ works.

This program is entirely free to the public thanks to the Urbana Arts and Culture Commission. Bring an idea or question and work with one of us on site. Bring something you’ve always hoped to have played–we’d love to help make that happen. Come try composing or songwriting for the first time with us–we purposely have teaching artists who specialize in being welcoming, kind, and genre-inclusive. For aspiring professional musicians or college students looking to strengthen portfolios, we would love to support you.

I am very excited to be taking part in this year’s College Music Society Great Lakes Regional Conference. I will be presenting a talk based on my dissertation “Aaron Cassidy’s Second String Quartet: Resilient Structures, Indeterminate Localities, and Performance Practice” and “Straight Into Tangles,” my orchestra work commissioned by Dr. Tiffany Chang and Oberlin Arts and Sciences Orchestra. The full dissertation is now online in a free to all space here: https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/113049

CMS Great Lakes was my first toe-dip into College Music Society several years ago. I like attending because of its presentations always reflect the organization’s inter-departmental focus.

This weekend I will be presenting a talk based on my dissertation “Aaron Cassidy’s Second String Quartet: Resilient Structures, Indeterminate Localities, and Performance Practice” and my orchestra work commissioned by Dr. Tiffany Chang and Oberlin Arts and Sciences Orchestra.

This will be the first time I get to publicly share about my dissertation research. The talk overlaps with the paper in many ways, but I’ve tried to make it something that fits a 20-ish minute presentation space. The full dissertation is now online in a free to all space here: https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/113049

I have a series of events coming up the next few months, but one special thing that happened a bit ago was that I was interviewed by The Arc Project. The article can be found here: https://www.arcprojectmusic.com/post/composer-spotlight-ralph-lewis

Near the end of December, Tiffany Chang, Ava Simon, Carol Vang, and I presented a panel about our work on my live-to-Zoom orchestra piece “Straight Into Tangles.”

A few weeks ago Verdant Vibes officially announced that my cello and electronics work “Can’t Take You Anywhere” was selected for one of their call for works concert happening in Spring 2022.

This Friday I had the privilege to be a guest presenter for Heidelberg University’s composition studio. I had attended their concert a few weeks before was really looking forward to talking with them. I showed some of my recent work Straight Into Tangles for live-to-Zoom Orchestra and demonstrated DuoTube. What I appreciated was that as we talked about developing opportunities and meaningful collaborations, the questions kept coming. I discussed my experiences with the Urbana Arts and Cultural Grant program in creating All Score Urbana as part of a jumping off point and Dr. Kennedy already had a grant program that is happening Tiffin, Ohio on hand. I hope Heidelberg’s composers continue to be create, dream big, and explore programs and concerts they can do in collaboration with community members and spaces.