February 10 , 2010 It's officially crunch time! I am taking my Qualifying Exams to advance to doctoral candidacy in 4 weeks. Suffice to say, I am anxious, excited, and my brain already hurts a bit. But this will be good, I feel ready to take the trials in front of the Jedi Council, they have all been very helpful preparing me and I will always be grateful for their tutelage. I have to thank Ben Carson for meeting with me off campus and even though he is not on my committee he is giving me great guidance. The exams will take place from March 12 - 22 followed by the 3 hour oral exam on March 29th, thereafter I will know whether or not I pass. Compositionally things are going well. I am finishing my "TBA" big piece for the UC Santa Cruz Wind Ensemble with Watsonville Taiko, I should be completed with that piece right before my QE's. That piece will be premiered on May 15, 2010 at UC Santa Cruz. Another big world premiere will take place on April 22, 2010. The world renown Contemporary Music Ensemble Korea with the Del Sol String Quartet will premiere "Collapsing Obsidian Sun" alongside works by David Rakowski, Kurt Rohde, Ken Ueno, Chinary Ung, Chou Wen-Chung, and others. I was also lucky enough to be one of the selected pieces that they will perform at Brandeis University in Boston, the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul, and Young-Nam University in Gyeongbuk, Korea. For more info please go here. ~Nick |