NEWS

June 2010

ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC PIANO TOUR FINISHED

The first year of the Electro-Acoustic Piano (EAP) is now over. It was a great success and was met with much enthusiasm at every venue. Again, I want to thank each of the composers who contributed music to this project: Christopher Trebue Moore, Christopher Jette, Dan VanHassel, Roberto Morales, and Annie Gosfield. This program would not have been nearly as interesting or rewarding without your amazing contributions!

The program got reviewed twice. Once in Kansas City by KCMetropolis and once by a student paper in Worcester, Massachusetts. If you would like to read the KCMetropolis review, click here.

The tour had some very interesting moments. Most notable was when my computer's motherboard crashed and the computer completely stopped running - literally a day after the warranty expired! With another show only 36 hours away, I had to rush to Best Buy and pick up a new machine. This, of course, led to other problems as each of the composers had to rush me their patches via email. As if that weren't enough, ten minutes before showtime, Jette's piece refused to work on the new machine; the computer simply could not communicate with my Wii remote. Thankfully, Jette fixed the problem during the first half of the concert and emailed me the repaired version. (Let me add that I was in Chicago, and he was in Santa Barbara!) This I downloaded during the first piece on the second half, installed during the second piece, and, after praying fervently that it would in fact work, played it without problem as the third piece. Ah, the joys of technology!

A couple weeks after the last concert, Jette, Trebue Moore, VanHassel, and myself met at UC Berkeley to record the entire recital. This recording will be released in two volumes, the first of which should be due later this year. For those who missed the recital - and for those who want to hear it again - keep checking back for more information.

Thankfully, EAP isn't over. With the project gaining steam and popularity, I am excited to present it for a second season next year. With a couple new composers added to the show, it promises to be every bit as exciting as it was this year.

I would also like to call your attention to the NEW Electro-Acoustic Piano page. The new page includes several video samples of this music, as well as a full project description. It also announces a new side project I've begun - the Electro-Acoustic Toy Piano!

KEITH KIRCHOFF TO BE FEATURED IN A NEW BOOK

YouTube is a remarkable invention. While I have certainly not reached the status of such YouTube greats as Tay Zonday, my performance of Matthew McConnell's Concerto for Toy Piano is at nearly 20,000 views. This number is apparently high enough to warrant including me in a new book that is getting published on the history of the toy piano. The author is Pawel Romanczuk, a Polish musician who himself has a fabulous toy piano project. I do not know when the book is to be published, but I am pretty excited to be included in it - even if it's being written in Polish!

EAP COMPOSERS COMPETITION

Lastly, I would like to remind everyone of the composition competition that I am co-hosting this year together with the University of Toronto. Open to all composers, the contest is looking for new works for piano and live electronics. Two winners will be selected (one to be a current student from the University of Toronto), and I will perform both pieces at the University of Toronto's New Music Festival in January 2011. Of these two winners, one will be selected to be included on a forthcoming album: The Electro-Acoustic Piano, vol. 2 (yes, that does mean a volume one is in the works).

The University of Toronto's New Music Festival is a long-standing festival that can safely be counted amongst the best in Canada. This year's festival - of which I was not a part - was a huge success, and they already have Chen Yi lined up to be the guest composer next season. I am anxious to begin reviewing the entries, as I am sure to be introduced to several amazing new composers.

For more information on the competition, visit: keithkirchoff.com/commission.html

Also, please join us on Facebook! To join the "Composition Competition" group, please click here.